Reserve Strike Eagle team leads opposing force in major exercise

Published May 9, 2012
By Master Sgt. Wendy Lopedote
916th Public Affairs Office

SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Costello: What's the guy's name on first base?

Abbott: No. What is on second.

Costello: I'm not asking you who's on second.

Abbott: Who's on first.

Costello: I don't know.

Abbott: He's on third; we're not talking about him.

This famous routine by the comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello is a classic example of miscommunication between two people trying to identify players on a baseball team.

Well, Costello never got their names right and he seemed to have missed the big picture as well. The fact is that no matter what (or who) these players were called; they were all working together as a cohesive team - one team with a common mission.

In much the same way, Reserve and active duty Airmen from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base demonstrated total force integration in action as they meshed seamlessly to assist the 482nd Fighter Wing with an Operational Readiness Exercise held at Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla., in late April.

A small contingency of 414th Fighter Group and 4th Fighter Wing maintenance and operations personnel kept three 4th FW F-15E Strike Eagles fully mission capable for their role as opposing forces, or Red Air, during the two-day exercise.

Although they experienced some rough weather and minor maintenance issues, working together as a team was never an issue for the blended force.

"There were no challenges with us working together," said Senior Master Sgt. James S. Lilly, 414th Maintenance Squadron. "We work together back home on the flight line side of the house and when you're in the uniform you don't see a difference."

All of the units involved in the exercise from Seymour Johnson and Homestead worked well together during both the preparation and execution phases to ensure a successful mission, said Lilly.

Even the Florida Air National Guard got into the act when Seymour's team reached out to the F-15 detachment based at Homestead for some equipment they needed to work on the jets.

"For some of the stuff that we didn't have, we were able to go to the F-15 detachment that's here," said Lilly. "We were able to just go down there and come right back to work."

"It was a full-fledged mission between everybody from ops to maintenance to the different back shops from the active duty and the reserve sides," said Lilly. "Getting everything coordinated has gone very well and everything worked out smoothly."
A smoothly integrated maintenance team is absolutely essential to his job as a pilot, says Lt. Col. Ahren Heidt, a 4th FW pilot and deployed active duty detachment commander for the mission.

"We can't even start the aircraft without maintenance spending tens, twenties of hours making sure these jets are ready to go," said Heidt. "These guys have done a great job. We've had code one jets the entire time we've been here, so it just goes to show the amount of work and everything they've put into this."

Symbiotic relationships aren't limited to just maintenance, however. The aerial mock combat that pitted Seymour's F-15 Strike Eagles against Homestead's F-16C Fighting Falcons in the southern Florida skies could ultimately bring together the two "simulated" adversaries.

"This has given us a great opportunity to come down here, establish a relationship, and set a framework for future training," said Heidt. "Right now we're helping them to prepare for their ORI. In the future, when we're going through the same thing at Seymour Johnson, we'll be looking for opportunities for them to come and support us."

Additionally, he said this has opened the door for future opportunities for the formal training program at Seymour Johnson, which is looking for places to train students during the service tactics phase where students deploy to another base and simulate fighting a war as a culmination of their training.

The opportunity to lead a successful mission provided a certain validation for the fledging 414th FG as well.

"This is the first time that we in the 414th have led a TDY," said Lilly. "It shows that the 4th Fighter Wing has confidence in our abilities and what we bring to the fight even with just the few numbers that we do have."

One of those numbers who can actually say he has seen the grass on both sides of the Seymour Johnson fence is Staff Sgt. Derek W. Pettus, a crew chief with the 414th.

Less than two years ago, Pettus was maintaining 4th FW jets as an active duty crew chief. Now he works on those same jets as a reservist.

The job is no different, he said while prepping the jets for their roles as aggressors alongside his active duty counterparts. Pettus also acknowledged that missions like this show how total force integration blurs the lines between active duty and reserve.

"Most people don't know I'm a reservist until I tell them," said Pettus. "The only difference I could honestly say is the work schedule, but as far as me working next to an active duty person, you really don't who's who."

Who's who was a non-issue for the Seymour team's successful trip which fostered relationships that will continue into future successes. With that, if these Airmen are ever asked who's the reservist and who's active duty, they just may reply with "I don't give a darn!"

Abbott: What?

Costello: I said I don't give a darn!

Abbott: Oh, that's our shortstop.

414th leads TFI exercise