Virtual Flag

Virtual Flag takes place four times a year and is modeled after Red Flag. The main difference, as you might have guessed, is that it's virtual. I was the project officer (PROJO) for Shaw's participation in Virtual Flag this past week, and was responsible for the planning and coordination with the Distributed Mission Operations Center (DMOC) at Kirtland AFB, NM. The DMOC is the central hub for these virtual wars, linking simulators from all across the world.

As the simulators from the different locations represent the "blue" air forces (good guys), the DMOC has simulators of their own to represent the "red" air forces (bad guys) as seen above. Red forces can also be flown from a computer with a joystick. Simulation does not always represent the real environment well, but it does a good job and is getting better...it's also much cheaper. Each day of Virtual Flag involved mass briefs and debriefs using video teleconference (VTC), linking all participants into one big meeting. After the briefing, we'd all "fly" our missions in a virtual world and then debrief the results. It was my first experience in something like this, and one I'm sure I'll see more of in the future as technology gets better and better.

77 Fighter Squadron Spouse Taxi Day

Two weeks ago, the squadron put on a spouse appreciation day to give them insight into a typical day in a fighter squadron. The day started with the mass brief where topics like the weather, flying airspace, flight mission, takeoff and land times are all reviewed before going into the individual flight briefs. The individual flight briefs cover more specific details of the day's flight. After the mass brief, they were given a squadron tour before suiting up in a flight suit and getting their helmets in preparation for their taxi ride in the F-16.

Lana had been wanting to get an F-16 flight since we were married during our time at Aviano, so I'm glad she had this opportunity to at least get a taxi ride. I was not allowed to give taxi her, but I did help her get all strapped into the cockpit and put her helmet on. I also gave her a quick demonstration on how to key the mic and talk on the radio, since she would be making most of them. A few minutes after engine start, Lana keyed the mic and said, "Gambler ops, Poker 01 taxi one, words?" The response, "Poker 01, negative words, press, double down!" They then taxied to the end of the runway and were given clearance for high speed taxi. A high speed taxi is when the pilot selects afterburner and accelerates quickly to 77 knots before pulling the throttle to idle while the jet rolls to the end of the runway.

I'm glad Lana had the chance to taxi in the F-16 and see a little more of what my days are like. Sadly, it's not always flying, but I'm very blessed to have the job I do. Thanks Lana for all your support!

Thanksgiving 2010

Lana, Liam and I spent this past Thanksgiving in the Blue Ridge Mountains northwest of Greenville, SC. Previously on our short trips, we had driven east to coast towns like Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, Charleston and Savannah so we decided the opposite direction would be nice for a change.

On Thanksgiving day, we made our way to Highlands, North Carolina for a couple nights. It was a nice small town in the mountains; a good location to relax as a family. We enjoyed a really good meal at one of the nearby restaurants early that afternoon and a nice walk through town. The next morning I went for a run (a little harder to breath at 4,000'), and then enjoyed another walk through town. Lana did a little 'black' Friday shopping while Liam and I followed. Later that evening we made our way to a really nice restaurant for dinner, which was owned by a German.

The following day we drove to Asheville, NC to visit the Biltmore Estate and Grove Park Inn. The Biltmore is a very impressive place, and for awhile Lana and I felt as though we were in Europe somewhere. Grove Park Inn is a also nice, and we enjoyed our lunch there.

Soon, Liam's first Christmas will be here and we're looking forward to getting together with my family in Michigan to celebrate Christ's coming to Earth!

Jordan - Eager Tiger 2010

A few days after returning from Europe, I was on a plane back across the Atlantic enroute to Jordan for another squadron temporary duty assignment (TDY). Each year Jordan holds an international exercise called Eager Tiger, and this year the Jordanians, USA (F-16s and F-18s), UAE and Pakistan participated. Our main goal was that of diplomacy, with goals from our leaders that are way above our pay grades.

In all the TDY lasted about 3.5 weeks in which time we flew some large formation exercises (LFEs) and close air support (CAS). We were flying out of a base about 1.5 hours east of Amman in the middle of the desert, so there wasn't much to do during the week except fly, eat, work out, and sleep. It was actually like being back in Iraq, with minimal infrastructure and amenities. A few different times my flight had the chance to fly down low and fast over the southern part of Jordan...near Wadi Rum, which looks like another planet when flying over.

On the weekends, we were able to get away from the base and visit places like Amman, Petra, Jerash, the Dead Sea and Jesus' baptism site. The baptism site and Petra were the most impressive. So much Biblical history took place in many of the places we visited and Petra was just amazing...felt like Indiana Jones ought to ride around the corner. Lana and I had swam in the Dead Sea during our time in Israel (click here for that blog), but I have to say the Jordanian side was much nicer...some of my fellow pilots and I spent an enjoyable night at the Marriott one of the weekends and actually got kicked out of the Dead Sea for swimming at night...guess they didn't want us to float across to Israel.

I was one of the pilots to fly a jet back to the USA. Our route of flight took us over Egypt, then the Med on our way to Moron Air Base, Spain. When we were about half way between the Italian island of Sardinia (where Lana and I spent our honeymoon) and the Spanish island of Mallorca, my wingman had a minor engine malfunction which required us to land at the nearest airport...that was Palma de Mallorca. I had landed here once before, but just to get gas on an F-16 cross-country during my time at Aviano. This time it was for five days, and the time was spent exploring as much as we could see. One of the towns we visited was Portocolom, a town Lana worked in for four months back 2002. When the jet was fixed, we flew on to Moron Air Base on mainland Spain and had another five days to wait until we could get a tanker aircraft to take us back across the Atlantic to SC. So, we made the most of it and did some exploring around the local area. In all, it was a very nice change to Jordan, but I was ready to get home and see Lana and Liam. After a nice hour flight and 10 air refuelings later, we were back home together as a family once again.

More Pictures:
Jordan & Spain

Liam Visits Scotland & Germany

The day after returning the my squadron's WIC support TDY to Nellis AFB, Lana, Liam and I hopped on a flight to Edinburgh, Scotland for a much needed holiday. During our time at Aviano, Lana and I had wanted to make a trip to Scotland, but ran out of time before having to move on in our Air Force journey. Now with Liam, we could show him to family and also see a country we had wanted to for some time. Lana's father is Scottish, so it was very nice to have family to see and stay with as we traveled.

After a relatively short flight (6-7 hrs) from Newark, NJ to Edinburgh, we were drinking tea and enjoying a chance to catch up with Lana's Aunt Gillian who lives in Edinburgh. We spend the rest of our time that day napping and adjusting to the time change. The following was spent in downtown Edinburgh...a great city! It's a very old and well kept city that has not seen the past destruction of WWII, and highly recommended for a visit. Later that week we drove to visit Lana's Granny on the west side of Scotland, in Ayr. She really enjoyed seeing Liam and it was a great day for a visit to Culzean Castle together. Soon after we were on a small plane headed towards the Orkney Islands off the north coast of Scotland to visit Lana's father who lives on the Island of Hoy. We flew to the Island of Kirkwall and then took the ferry to Hoy. It was his first time seeing Liam and he really enjoyed having us for a visit. One of our days there, we hiked to see the 'Old Man of Hoy', which is a famous free standing rock off the northwest coast. The weather that day was cold, windy and rainy but it was worth the hike. Before flying back to Edinburgh, we also spent a day touring Kirkwall seeing St. Magnus Cathedral, the Ring of Brodgar and where Lana spent the first three years of her life before moving to Munich.

The same day we left the Orkney Islands, we made our way to Munich. This was the first time Lana's German Grandparents and her brother had seen Liam, and they were all anxiously awaiting our arrival. During our time in Germany we visited Chieming, a nice Bavarian village where Oma and Opa live, and while there took a nice hike in the Alps near their home. Sadly, I didn't have too much time (5 days) in Germany but it was great being in Munich again...we both miss Europe very much. Since I had to fly back to the USA on our anniversary, Lana and I enjoyed our first evening out alone at a nice Italian restaurant near the apartment while Lana's mom babysat. Soon I was on a flight home to prepare for a month long work trip to Jordan while Lana and Liam stayed behind in Munich to be with family. We're not sure when we'll be back in Europe again but thankful for the time we were able to spend seeing more of God's World!

More Pictures:

Scotland & Germany

Weapons School Support 2010

The past couple of weeks my squadron has been back in Las Vegas at Nellis AFB for Weapons School support (pics above were taken from the tanker on our flight out). Weapons School is the Air Force's version of Top Gun...a cheesy comparison, but most have seen the movie. Weapons School is a six month "graduate" level course for pilots and other career fields such as Intelligence...if selected, the top in each field attend. It's a course I hope to be selected for in the next year or so. We departed Shaw AFB on 11 Sep after our squadron Director of Operations read an article about the attacks which took place back in 2001...a good reminder for all of us. We flew the 4.3 hours to Nellis on the wing of a KC-10 tanker aircraft (3 refuelings) with our route of flight taking us directly over the Grand Canyon...a very real picture of what the Biblical flood did many years ago!

During different phases of Weapons School, the fighter aircraft (F-15C, F-15E, F-16, F-22, A-10) require "red air" support. Red air is the term used to describe the opposition forces, whereas "blue air" represent the good forces. So, our job this trip to Nellis was to provide red air support...simulating varying Russian aircraft like the Mig-29, Su-27 and Su-30. It's not the most tactical flying, as there are certain maneuvers we're requested to fly in order to drive different training objectives, but the days are a little shorter than usual.

This trip was particularly nice because Lana and Liam were able to come along. Some good friends of ours from Italy, the Chandlers, live in Las Vegas now so Lana and Liam had a place to stay other than the small hotel room on base. This was Lana's first time to Vegas and has enjoyed the different climate and desert...although she's already missing the greenness of the Carolinas. We took both a day and night trip down to the Vegas strip to see all the lights and buildings. We also spent a Saturday touring the Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and the small old mining town of Nelson...a town who's mines produced 5 million dollars worth of Gold over a 40 year period starting in the late 1800s.

The day after flying the red eye (2330 departure) back to SC, we departed on a two week trip to Scotland and Germany...a much needed get away and a chance to introduce Liam to Lana's side of the family!

More Pictures:

Las Vegas 2010

Another Red Flag At Nellis AFB, NV

Earlier this month, I returned from my second Red Flag exercise at Nellis AFB, NV...the first took place back in the fall of '06 (click here for that post) when I was stationed at Aviano AB, Italy. As with my first exercise, I flew as a wingman during the two weeks of training. This time it was not because I was new to the F-16, but because I was new to the Block 50 missions of SEAD and DEAD as previously discussed in early posts. Our flight from Shaw AFB took about 4.2 hours with two air-to-air refuelings before the runway at Nellis was in sight...it's quite the skyline when landing to the south at Nellis seeing the Vegas strip in the distance. It didn't take long to realize we were not in SC anymore after landing. As soon as I raised the canopy I was sitting in 110° heat, but this time without the humidity of the southeast! I was back in "Fighter Town USA!"
Similar to '06, there were many foreign countries participating in the exercise looking to grown and learn from our training tactics...the parking ramp full of fighter jets, which is always a cool sight to see. International flags are sometimes frustrating as communication and tactics can be difficult/different, but in the end of the day flying in a large force exercise (LFE...with 50-60 aircraft) is always a good learning experience. It was especially good for me to fly and execute the new missions in such an environment. Upon returning to Shaw I started the Block 50 instructor pilot upgrade (IPUG), so this training has helped as I brief and fly in an instructor role.

While at Nellis we had a squadron naming (an event where new pilots to the squadron get their first name, or keep a previous name if coming from another active duty base). There were five of us total who were named, and I kept "Nuke" which for those who don't know stands for "no understanding kills everything" from a bafoonerous thing I did as young wingman back at Aviano. Tradition is if a pilot has flow with a certain callsign in war and dropped bombs (Iraq for me) and served in all three US Air Force Commands (USAFE, PACAF and ACC...which I know have), they cannot be renamed. So, naturally I kept Nuke.

Now that I've been in the Air Force for almost 7.5 years, the circle of friends Lana and I have has grown quite a bit. Two couples we know well, one from Aviano and the other from Kunsan, are now stationed at Nellis and I was able to meet up with both of them for dinner. Here in a couple of weeks I'm flying back to Nellis, and this time Lana and Liam will accompany me to catch up with our friends there. It will be good to have them both rather than separated!

C-Flight Commander

Today I took over as C-Flight Commander in the squadron; a job that I have been looking forward to for a while now. As in all military organizations, a fighter squadron has rank structure...setting the chain of command and letting everyone know who the "boss" is from top to bottom. In all squadrons is the Commander (1), Director of Operations (1), Flight Commanders (3), Shop Chiefs (6) and then those who work in the respective shops (about 20). I have about 7.7, Double Down, pilots in my flight who I'm responsible for. This includes writing their performance reports and awards packages, taking care of their weekly simulator / flight training, working with the director of ops to facilitate a smooth operating squadron, etc. It's a chance for me to put aside my Air Force goals and desires to help those in my flight reach theirs. It's a leadership role many, but not all, pilots will find themselves in at about the 6-7 year mark in their career and one I appreciate the opportunity to have!

July 4th In Savannah, Georgia

Since I had a four day weekend for the 4th, Lana, Liam and I took a trip to Savannah, GA and Hilton Head Beach. Savannah is a very nice and old town (1733) with many small park-like squares, outdoor restaurants and shops. On the drive down, Lana called some good friends of ours, who we met in Korea, just to see how they were doing. Little did we know, they had stopped in Savannah on their way to Florida, so we naturally met up for dinner downtown. After dinner, we took a walk along River Street before calling it a night.

The next day Lana, Liam and I went to Tybee Beach about 30 minutes east of downtown Savannah. It takes a little more time now with Liam, but we still enjoyed the beach. As long as Liam has a full belly, he usually sleeps. So, Lana took care of that and laid him under an umbrella to sleep. Each one of us took turns swimming while the other watched Liam.

Later that night, we made our way back to the same restaurant we had eaten at the night before since the food was so good. It was also the 4th of July, so we also made our way back to the popular River Street. The firework show was pretty good and Liam enjoyed it too.

The next day we make a 45 minute drive north into South Carolina again to Hilton Head Beach for 3-4 hours. The routine of one watching while the other swam was the same, until an older lady near us said she'd love to hold Liam while we swam. It was an offered we accepted and appreciated. Our weekend trip, Liam's first mini holiday, was an enjoyable one which was hope to do again sometime. Actually, Lana enjoyed Hilton Head Beach so much that she has made a three day reservation for her and two of her friend's from Germany in August.

77th Gambers Are Back / Clearance Came Through

The beginning of May, my squadron returned from their deployment to Balad, Iraq...the same base I had been deployed to the beginning of 2007. It is nice to have them back and I'm looking forward to flying with them soon. My clearance paperwork, after about 4.5 months, finally has come through so I'll be able to fly more now. I'll first go through some academics and simulators before flying. I'll first become a wingman as I continue to learn the new SEAD / DEAD mission and eventually go through another short instructor pilot upgrade before taking on the the role of instructor. The squadron will be busy over the next few months with Red Flag, Weapons School support (both of those at Nellis AFB, NV) and then another trip later in Oct/Nov.

Lana and I continue to settle in here in Sumter, and are enjoying every moment of being parents. Liam is a such a great baby...God is good!

Liam Sean Ferguson

Liam Sean Ferguson! No words can explain how happy you make your parents feel. We love you!

First Flights At Shaw...Sitting Alert

A couple of weeks ago I was able to get back in the air again after nearly four months! As many of you know, I've been having issues with my security clearance which has been the main reason for this. But, even though this is still the case, I'm able to fly a limited amount thanks to a great director of operations (DO) in my squadron. He's pulled some strings and made a difficult process happen.

My first flight was a local area orientation (LAO) flight out over the east coast near Myrtle Beach followed by an approach into Charleston AFB and McEntire Air National Guard Base. The next day I had an instructor checkout flying BFM with our Dutch exchange pilot as my instructor, so now I'm back to instructor status, minus being able to teach the F-16 block 50 mission of suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses (SEAD/DEAD). Big picture that doesn't allow me to do much since I can't teach the main mission of this F-16, but it shouldn't be too much longer until my clearance comes through...hopefully!

Shaw has an additional mission to SEAD and DEAD and that's Operation Noble Eagle (ONE). ONE involves two pilots sitting alert (ready to take off within 15 min of a scramble call) 24 hrs a day 365 days a year. In total there are four pilots who work each two week shift so they can rotate every other day...24 on 24 off. This mission has been in place since 9/11 to protect the homeland against additional terrorists attacks using airplanes.

In a few weeks, my squadron will be returning from Iraq and start reintegration back into normal life around here. Lana and I are both looking forward to meeting the rest of the Gamblers and making new friends for our three years at Shaw. The squadron isn't supposed to deploy again until later in 2011, which will give us time to settle in as new parents. That's about all for now...time to see if Lana's having contractions yet!

Myrtle Beach

Since the baby has decided to arrive a little late, Lana, her mom Gabi and I decided to make our first trip to the east coast and enjoy a day at Myrtle Beach...soon it will be a little more difficult to get around. It's nice the drive is only about 1 hr 45 min to the beach. It was a really nice day without a cloud in the sky. For dinner we enjoyed a nice meal on one of the piers with shrimp and fish.