A NATO AWACS surveillance aircraft arrived at Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., on Aug. 8 from its home at Geilenkirchen, Germany, for three weeks of training with the F-15Es of the 4th Fighter Wing. It will stay through Wednesday. Turkish Air Force Capt. Gurhan Tarman, co-pilot of the AWACS, said the aircraft is serving as “the eyes” of the friendly F-15Es that engage in mock dogfights with other F-15Es of the wing playing the role of the Red force. Capt. Nicholas Suppa, assistant director of staff of the wing’s 335th Fighter Squadron, said the training is also a valuable experience for building coalition interoperability. And it gives the fighter pilots the opportunity to receive face-to-face briefs and debriefs with an AWACS crew, he said. (Seymour Johnson report by A1C Marissa Tucker)
The Air Force has finished modifying and testing the new VC-25B Bridge aircraft that will serve as a temporary Air Force One, the service announced May 1. All that’s left now is to finish painting the jet before it starts flying this summer.