Capt. Mike Yanovitch of the 67th Fighter Squadron chalks up a "MiG kill" on an F-15 following a recent Operation Red Flag mission at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Fourteen F-15 pilots from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, deployed to Red Flag to improve their combat skills. (Courtesy of U.S. Air Force)
Capt. Mike Yanovitch of the 67th Fighter Squadron chalks up a "MiG kill" on an F-15 following a recent Operation Red Flag mission at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. Fourteen F-15 pilots from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, deployed to Red Flag to improve their combat skills. (Courtesy of U.S. Air Force)
Lt. Col. Jeff "Lenny" Gustafson of the 67th Fighter Squadron hugs one of his four children Wednesday as he returns from a month at Red Flag combat exercises. (Erik Slavin / S&S)
KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — The 67th Fighter Squadron’s top guns began returning Wednesday from Operation Red Flag in Nevada, recognized as one of the world’s most realistic aerial exercises.
The 14-pilot contingent of F-15s from the “Fighting Cocks” was the largest the squadron had sent in eight years to the monthlong training at Nellis Air Force Base, said squadron commander Lt. Col. Jeff “Lenny” Gustafson.
The exercise assigns “blue flags” to attack the “red flags” of the 414th Combat Training Squadron based at Nellis. Within the vast desert area, the Kadena pilots also targeted mock airfields, parked aircraft and simulated missile sites while fending off “the enemy.”
The pilots had not been involved in this type of intense exercise for about 18 months, Gustafson said.
“When we started off we were a little rusty,” he said. “But by the third day we were rockin’ and rollin’.”
Two of the squadron’s aircraft tied for the top number of “kills,” the squadron commander said. They encountered everything from stealth bombers and fighters to reconnaissance and cargo aircraft, while operating both day and night.
The variety gave first-timers in the group a good idea of the threat a highly advanced enemy force brings, Gustafson said.
“It was an awesome experience,” he said.
And while reuniting with his wife and four children at Kadena, he added, “After three or four weeks, everybody is itchy to get back home.”
