Flying begins at Cope Tiger

  • Published
  • By Capt. Renee Lee
  • Cope Tiger Public Affairs
KORAT ROYAL THAI AIR BASE, Thailand --  Aircrew from the Royal Thai Air Force, Republic of Singapore Air Force, U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Marine Corps began launching sorties today in support of Exercise Cope Tiger '08.

The coalition pilots and aircrew launched all aircraft participating in the exercise from Korat and Udon as a part of the work-up training, allowing them to become familiar with the local airspace, flying procedures and tactics.

From Korat, aircraft included U.S. Air Force E-3, U.S. Marine Corps KC-130s, F/A-18Cs, RTAF F-5E/Fs, RTAF f-16 A/Bs, RSAF CH-47s, RSAF F/16 C/Ds, and RSAF F-5S/Ts. From Udon, they included C-17s, C-130s and KC-135s, the only aircraft based at Udon for the exercise.

Pilots and aircrew from the three countries, including each exercise director, met formally for the first time yesterday at an initial mass inbrief, led by Group Capt. Tawidanes Angsusingha, RTAF exercise director. There the participants shared information about each other's aircraft and capabilities as well as specific airspace procedures for the multilateral exercise, which helps develop multilateral interoperability and coalition procedures in air power missions.

"The exercise is really high-end training," said Col. Anil Sankar, RSAF exercise director. It allows the coalition forces to "know the environment we'll be working in and more importantly, get to know each other...and it gives all the guys a good chance to sharpen their skills."

More than 1,400 people from the RTAF, Royal Thai Army, RSAF, U.S. Air Force, and the U.S. Marine Corps are participating in Cope Tiger. The exercise provides an opportunity to conduct a wide spectrum of large force employment air operations in a multilateral environment.

The exercise is "very good because pilots can work together to help each other, make friends, and establish good relations," said Group Captain Angsusingha. "The U.S. and RTAF have had a relationship for a long time and it should be maintained. We can learn from each other."

Cope Tiger furthers relations with both Singapore and Thailand, said Col. James Horton, U.S. Air Force exercise director and the 13th Air Expeditionary Wing commander here.

"We've done this exercise multiple years and it helps us not only to build the working relations with our counterparts but to help us understand their capabilities and for them to understand ours."

Cope Tiger runs through Feb. 5.