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Show ftf Himu?ntfiW ASgibftn successful in deployment sizzles Wing by SSgt. Michael Fletcher 388th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office To the deployed 388th GULFPORT, Miss. members in Fighter Wing support of exercise Sand '92 the Eagle lasting impression is hours of hard work in sweltering heat and humidity. Some 200 Hill people deployed to the Mississippi Gulf Coast July 25 for an exercise in a simulated tropical setting. Sand Eagle '92 is a 12th Air Force exercise involving more than 10,000 Air Force, Army and Marine Corps members in simulated maneuvers in a foreign country. flown by Eight 421st Fighter Squadron 24 pilots in shifts, launched three times a day to provide close air support for the Army's XVIII Airborne Corps from Fort Bragg, N.C. The aircraft used the Peason Range north of Fort Polk, La., which is similar in terrain to what would be encountered in Central or South America dense tree cover with dirt roads and occasional clearings. "Sand Eagle '92 was a super opportunity for the 421st FS 'Black Widows' to demonstrate what we do best take the fight to the enemy," said Lt. Col. Rodney Nelson, 421st FS commander. "We practiced generating, mobilizing, deploying and employing as a team. This was not a effort, though. The 388th Fighter Wing team working together made it happen." Capt. John Wiebener is one of the pilots who flew a Monday morning mission over the range. "We couldn't spot the primary targets, which were simulated tanks in the trees on the Fort Polk range," he said. "A forward air controller flying an OA-1jet vectored us into secondary targets of equal importance. The FAC laid down smoke near the simulated fuel tanks and gave us ranges from the smoke." The pilots dropped BDU-3practice bombs on the targets and practiced evasive maneuvers leaving the area. The FAC then directed them back with corrected coordinates and more bombs Wiebener added. "This is the kind of terrain, heat and humidity we would experience if we were to conduct operations in a tropical area." The weather also added a tropical flair. Several times during the exercise the flight line was drenched with coastal rain showers and lightning. The pilots had to circle around thunderheads reach- were dropped. "Working with a FAC is effective in this kind of terrain," Wiebener said. "We don't waste fuel looking for our own targets and we can be a little more accurate in laying munitions on the targets. Even at 500 feet altitude it is very difficult to spot targets in the dense growth here. Operating out of the Gulf Port Mississippi Air Guard Training Facility the jets shared the civilian runway with commerciaF aircraft, similar to what conditions would be in an actual mission. The weapons load airmen and other support members turned existing structures into workable facil v. f:m- ,f ''' - j Practice makes perfect - : , , Photo by SSgt. Michael Fletcher Amn. William Wadkins, 421st Fighter Wing Weapons Loading Flight, AIM-missile during Sand Eagle '92. inserts an argon bottle into an 9 ities for their operations. Lodgings were provided in open bay buildings used by the Air Guard for summer training. The Hill contingent was comprised of people from the 421st FS, 388th Operations Support Squadron, and the Ogden Air Logistics Center. Most were military, but a few civilian technicians deployed as well. Several units from as far away as the U.S. Virgin trainIslands were also using the base for two-wee-k ing sessions. While all of the action was more than 250 miles away, the support crews kept busy making sure that were able to support the taskings. While the all the aircraft carried the LANTIRN pods that enabled them to operate efficiently at night, the majority of the missions were during daylight hours. The deployment returned July 31 and Aug. 1 to repair equipment and ready for the next tasking. 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