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Osan participates in Buddy Wing

  • Published
  • By Airman Jason Epley
  • 51st Communications Squadron
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  "It's good to know the guys you would go to war with," says 1st Lt. Brad Wethington, 25th Fighter Squadron pilot.

Over the past week, pilots from the 25th FS participated in a Buddy Wing program, an exercise between the 25th FS and Republic of Korea Air Force pilots from the 238th Fighter Squadron.

The Buddy Wing program allows ROKAF and U.S. Air Force pilots to practice with one another. The biannual exercise took place over a three day period and helped to integrate attack and close air support missions.

"The buddy wing program pays big dividends to both our units in terms of preparing us to work together," said, Lt. Col. Scott Caine, 25 FS commander. "Our mission to defend the Republic of Korea is closely tied to our ability to fly and fight with our ROKAF counterparts."

"These experiences are important, considering the fact that there are no ROK-only air operations within the Korea theatre of operations and therefore these are good practices to enhance our combined war fighting capabilities," said ROKAF pilot Capt. Cho, 238th FS.

By flying missions together, the two squadrons were able to integrate tactics, techniques and procedures, and to develop better working relationships between ROKAF A-37 crews and U.S. Air Force A-10 crews.

"The U.S. Air Force was able to show us various realworld wartime operations employments and realistic tactics we will be able to use if we ever need to," said ROKAF Capt. Pyoum, 238th FS.

The exercise also gave the squadrons an idea of how things would work if they ever needed to integrate. Pilots of the 25th flew with ROKAF A-37 crews as both fighters and forward air controller-airborne (FAC-A).

During the time they were here, the ROKAF expressed interest in learning more about the 25th's night FAC-A. Tactics demonstrations of panoramic night vision goggles, and GCP-1C Ground Command Pointer gave the ROKAF insight into the U.S. Air Force's night operations.

The ROKAF 238 Fighter Squadron flew out of Wonju meeting their maintenance crew here Dec. 5. The maintenance team participated in the exercise by supporting the air crew, completing any maintenance that needed to be done on their jets.

During their downtime the ROKAF maintenance crew, escorted by Airman 1st Class Jeremy Ward of the 51st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron had the opportunity to see an A-10.

"We enjoyed our time seeing the A-10s and the size of their hangers," said ROKAF Private First Class Lee of the 638th Maintenance Squadron. "Much is learned and exchanged during exercises like the buddy wing."

"It gives us confidence in their abilities and gives us the chance to work with them," said 1st Lt. Josh Arrowood, 25th FS, after expressing that his favorite part of the exercise was getting to know the pilots from the 238th Fighter Squadron.