Hawaii Air National Guardsmen in seven F-15s fired AIM-7 Sparrow missiles at drones while flying over the Pacific Missile Range Facility off the coast of Kauai, as part of the 2006 Rim of the Pacific exercise. The airmen said that normally they must travel to Tyndall AFB, Fla., to get live-fire practice, but even there the missiles contain telemetry equipment rather than explosives. The opportunity was a win-win. “We had the option to either destroy or shoot 14 missiles,” explained Maj. John Traettino, a pilot with ANG’s 199th Fighter Squadron, and added, “It’s actually less expensive to shoot the missiles.” RIMPAC 2006 features airmen and sailors from seven Pacific Rim nations and the United Kingdom.
As the Air Force readied for its June 21-22 strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the service was also putting its Agile Combat Employment strategy into action, dispersing combat aircraft and Airmen from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in preparation for a possible Iranian retaliatory attack. Some defense experts say…
