BATTLE OF BRITAIN DINING IN NIGHT - The Insight Online

separate waves. The COMAOwave in the morning and theshadow wave in the afternoon,both waves saw participatingaircraft trained in variousair to air and air to groundscenarios. Working in two crewsthe 8 Sqn aircrew planned andflew alternating days andwith the tireless supportof the 8 Sqn Ground crewall but one mission wascompleted successfullyallowing effectivecommand and control ofthe exercise to ensure allthe training took placesafely and without incident.The addition of a CombatSearch and Rescue (CSAR)Mission, enabled crew toreact and respond to adowned aircrew situation,an event for whichthere is limited trainingopportunities in routineUK flying. On this daycertain enthusiastic membersof the E-3D detachment, wereinvited to volunteer to act as thedowned aircrew running aroundNorway adding extra realism tothe training. Here E-3D crewhad to effectively allocate theirtime between controlling the airwar, which continued as in everyother day, but with the addedresponsibility of aiding the safepick up of the ‘downed aircrew’,and learning what challengesand pitfalls could be avoidedwith more training.Detachment personnel took theopportunity to visit the GermanWWII coastal battery, Austråttfort. The turret with 3 x 28CMguns, was actually the C turretfrom 'Gneisenau' - the GermanWWII battle cruiser, sistership ofthe 'Scharnhorst'. The ship wasdamaged in an air raid in 1942,and so the main guns wereremoved and employed in thecoastal battery role at variouslocations around Norway. Avery interesting tour gavethose detachment personnel inattendance a rare insight into thelives and living conditions of theGerman soldiers, operating atone of these Forts during WWII.Other opportunities availableto a few fortunate individuals,included theopportunity to flywith the RNoAF 339thSquadron. One of thosefortunate individualswas Fg Off Rob Stewartwho describes hisexperience below:The RNoAF 339th Sqnflies the Bell 412 that'sthe venerable 'Huey' toyou and I-and bringsan entirely differentaspect to the scenariosbeing run on BAW-13.Everything from SFsupport to CSAR to ship huntingfell into the remit of the 339th, sowhen I was invited to join themon a sortie I, of course, jumped atthe chance.The trip started well: beingasked to assist in fitting theM134 mini-guns to the sides ofthe choppers is far flung froma normal day in the office. Thiswas soon followed by the usualsafety briefs, with the doorgunner, giving the brief, addingadditional emphasis on ensuringwe had our seat belts on tight...It soon becameclear why. Westarted theflight with somelow-level flyingacross someof Norway'simpressive terrainall the while, theside doors opento the elements.It soon dawnedon me that thesmall strip ofworn-out fabricacross my lapwas all that waskeeping mefrom topplingout the door.Before long, wewere making atactical landingto engage withthe JTACs andcoordinate thenext phase ofthe mission,this turnedout to includesome gut-wrenching tacticalmanoeuvring with a whole lotof practice gun runs thrown infor good measure. The sortiewas then rounded off with aflyover for the benefit of 'NATOTV' before coming to a halt andlanding back at Orland MAS.A morning with a good mix offear and fun also making somefriends with our NATO brethren.All in all, a success.’ Fg Off RobStewart, Surveillance Operator,8 Sqn.As well as the opportunities toexperience part of Norway’smilitary history or act uponinvites to go flying low level,other individuals took thechance presented to them to goexploring the local landscape,see the wildlife during walksexploring the many hills aroundthe base or falling victim to“It soon dawned on me thatthe small strip of worn-outfabric that was across keeping my lap me was fromalltoppling out the door.”the sharp stones which werethe pitfall of a few bike ridesand the local area. Someindividuals took the chance, atthe weekend, to visit Norway’sfirst capital, Trondeim, a livelyand cultural city of Norway,whilst others enjoyed theevening entertainment puton as part of BAW13. Thisentertainment included an AC/DC tribute band amongst othervarious music nights, all givingopportunities to get to knowparticipating members of othercountries detachments andjoining in on sing offs, whichwere notably dominated by theenthusiasm of the German andGreek Singers.All in all BAW13 provided a greatopportunity for 8 Sqn personneland supporting members toparticipate in a multi-nationcommand and control air to aircombat exercise, with variousdifferent scenarios, with theaim of enhancing training andskills for all involved. Operatingout of Orland MAS as a ForwardOperating Location (FOL) forNATO’s AWACS, enabled theground crew, led by DEOFlt Lt Eckersley, to achievea fantastic result of 8 outof 9 missions completedsuccessfully. A massivethank you goes out to allinvolved in ensuring theaircraft were in a good stateto achieve such a result.At the end of BAW13Exercise Director ColonelFrank Gerards stated thewhole effort had been a‘Job Well Done’.Continuing on ColonelFrank Gerards stated:‘During the past ten flyingdays we have flown atotal of 534 missions trainingcovering the whole spectrumof Air Power capabilitiesin order to prepare for awide array of NRF missions.The whole exercise hasbeen conducted safely andwithout incident, with theprofessionalism of both air andgroundcrew having been ofthe highest standard. All in allwe can be very satisfied withour achievements.’So as the exercise participantsall make their way back to theirrespective bases, and reflect onthe training and experiencesof the past few weeks, all canhappily reflect on a Mission welldone, our thanks go out to theBAW13 Exercise Director ColonelFrank Gerards of the NetherlandsAir Force and the senior HostNation representative LieutenantColonel Hans Jørgen Nordskogfrom the Norwegian JointHeadquarters, who workedtirelessly together to put on afantastic exercise. On behalfon 8 Sqn I look forward to thenext opportunity to work outof Orland MAS and be involvedin future multi-national levelexercises enabling the Sqnpersonnel to build on lessonslearnt over the past two weeks ofExercise Brilliant Arrow 2013.InsightMAGAZINE 29