COMMANDO SLING 98-4

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

1. COMMANDO SLING is a Singapore-U.S. air exercise conducted at Paya Lebar Air Base in Singapore. Australia participated for the first time in COMMANDO SLING 98-4. A Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) pilot climbs into his F/A-18 for exercise maneuvers.

2. Col. Voon Tse-Chow, exercise director and acting Commander of Paya Lebar Air Base of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), briefs exercise participants.

3. One of six F-15s of the Louisiana Air National Guard which flew 8,000 miles (12,880 km) to participate in the first trilateral COMMANDO SLING.

4. An RAAF F/A-18 Hornet and Louisiana Air National Guard F-15 Eagle on the flightline of Paya Lebar Air Base, Singapore.

5. The RSAF has superbly hosted 42 COMMANDO SLING exercises during which more than 6,000 sorties were flown over eight years of combined training.

6. The close friendship between Singaporean, Australian and American airmen has been bonded by years of training together. Australian and U.S. participants pose together.

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Exercise COMMANDO SLING is an air exercise which began with an agreement between the United States and Singapore in 1990. When it began, it involved the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) and U.S. Air Force (USAF) assets of Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). For the first time, COMMANDO SLING 98-4 also included the participation of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).

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All COMMANDO SLING exercises are conducted from Paya Lebar Air Base (PLAB), Singapore. They involve continuous and extensive coordination between Singaporean and U.S. participants. The USAF's 497th Combat Training Squadron (497 CTS), which is based in Singapore, provides the main coordination for U.S. participation in the exercise. Since its inception, 42 COMMANDO SLING exercises have generated over 6,000 aircraft sorties.

The 497th CTS comprises the basic functional elements of a small-scale USAF fighter wing - fighter operations, flightline logistics, community and mission support, and medical services. With a permanently assigned staff of 37 personnel, the 497th CTS represents the entire USAF presence in Singapore. However, six times a year for up to four weeks the squadron "grows" to between 120 and 190 in strength, with the deployment of 6 to 12 F-15 and/or F-16 aircraft and the associated 75 to 150 support personnel. When so configured, the 497 CTS "presence" is transformed into an operational role, to conduct an intense schedule of air-to-air combat training with the RSAF.

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The 497 CTS also supports USAF fighter rotations to Southwest Asia and several other regional exercises such as COPE TAUFAN, COPE TIGER, and COPE WEST.

An example of the 497th CTS's "expanding capability" occurred in May 1998 during COMMANDO SLING 98-4 when they also supported the ordered departure of U.S. personnel from Indonesia. Paya Lebar Air Base ramp at that time had 28 USAF F-15s, four USAF C-130s, four USAF KC-135s, one C-141, one C-17, plus all the permanently based RSAF aircraft and aircraft from other nations. All were supported by 497 CTS and RSAF personnel. Additionally, COMMANDO SLING 98-4 was the first time the normally bilateral exercise was expanded to include the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F/A-18 Hornets.

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Successful exercises such as COMMANDO SLING 98-4 are the result of excellent working relations and superb coordination during the operational planning conferences. In the case of COMMANDO SLING 98-4, the potential for expanding the exercise was first identified during a meeting in December 1997 in Singapore. RAAF F/A-18s were scheduled to participate with the RSAF in Singapore during a Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA) exercise at approximately the same time as a COMMANDO SLING exercise was to begin with the deployment of six Louisiana Air National Guard F-15s to Singapore. From that point, it was a relatively simple matter to de-conflict existing schedules and develop a plan to execute an exercise of this magnitude and complexity.

In COMMANDO SLING 98-4, the 497 CTS's objectives included:

• Executing the first-ever trilateral COMMANDO SLING exercise
• Fulfilling a U.S. commitment for continuous presence agreed upon in the 1990 agreement with Singapore
• Improving procedures for sustained operations at a non-U.S. base
• Testing the long range mobilization ability of the deploying USAF units
• Fostering working relations between the USAF, RSAF, and RAAF personnel
• Testing the ability of the 497 CTS to host and support the deploying units
• Executing COMMANDO SLING safely
• Determining if this type of COMMANDO SLING could become an annual event
• Maximizing dissimilar air combat training (DACT) and respective sortie rates
• Increasing training effectiveness through improved mission debrief procedures

RSAF assets participating in COMMANDO SLING 98-4 included F-16 Fighting Falcons, upgraded F-5 Tigers, and A4-SU Skyhawks. Leading the RSAF contingent was Col. Voon Tse-Chow, Commander of PLAB. He focused on the operational goals and the value added to the RSAF's overall training, saying "the trilateral exercise makes the training more sophisticated. The main objective is to improve skills by fighting pilots of other aircraft and to exchange ideas with other forces. It is important to understand the capability of high performance aircraft like F-15 Eagles and F/A-18 Hornets."

Leading the way for the RAAF's 10 deployed F/A-18s and 100-plus personnel from RAAF Tindal was Wg. Cmdr. Mark Eldridge. Sqdn. Ldr. Mark Kitcher, Project and Executive Officer of RAAF's 75 Squadron, stated, "aircraft have their strengths and weaknesses, just like cars. You can have bad habit patterns, and you can try and learn from other aircraft."

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USAF Squadron Commander Lt. Col. Mike Jefferson brought his National Guard detachment of 84 personnel and 6 F-15s halfway around the world from their home base in Louisiana, USA. The logistical effort required to deploy these assets 8,000 miles was a remarkable achievement.

Arrival of the jets on 30 April marked the beginning of the trilateral portion of the exercise. The first day involved multiple orientation briefings provided by RSAF, USAF, and RAAF personnel. These briefings included local area orientation, rules of engagement, training and safety requirements, scope of the exercise, and local customs topics.

Flying operations commenced on 5 May 1998, with the initial sorties dedicated to orientation-type missions pitting one aircraft versus one aircraft in basic fighter maneuvers. Following these "warm up" sorties, the exercise quickly progressed to more involved scenarios with the last flying days including mission-oriented training packages of four versus six aircraft. These packages were the highlights of the training scenarios, with multiple aircraft performing air defense and sweep roles, and others simulating attacks on Royal Australian Naval vessels positioned under the training airspace.

Malaysian Defense officials had a significant role during the coordination and execution phase of the exercise, supporting the use of the South China Sea military training areas. Their flexibility and cooperation in the scheduling of this training area was critical to the success of COMMANDO SLING 98-4.

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The clean, ultra-modern city of Singapore, as well as the professional approach of the RSAF during all aspects of COMMANDO SLING 98-4, impressed all deployed personnel.

COMMANDO SLING 98-4 proved to be a challenging and highly successful exercise. This first-ever multilateral COMMANDO SLING provided a unique opportunity for excellent training. The 100 percent Dissimilar Air Combat Training rate during the exercise was the result of the availability of additional assets provided by the RAAF, and the continued commitment by the RSAF to support such exercises with all available assets. At the end of the exercise all players agreed: beautiful country, great exercise, and let's do it again.