Posted on 04/11/2003 9:36:27 AM PDT by Stand Watch Listen
Bombing Baghdad was just as trainer showed it would be
By Margo Rutledge Kissell, Dayton Daily News
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE-- After launching a missile over Baghdad, a F-16 pilot later sent an e-mail on how the experience compared to being in a training simulator developed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base."The cool part is that the location of my flight and the tactics employed were EXACTLY like we were practicing .... It was pretty cool to see the terrain and scenario "as practiced." Talk about 'Mission Rehearsal,'" wrote Maj. David Meyer, who launched the first High-speed Anti-Radiation Missile of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He sent the e-mail March 21, two days after the war started and just weeks after preparing for the task in a simulator at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina.
Col. Michael P. Chapin said receiving the e-mail at Wright-Pat gave him chills.
"When someone like this goes right out of our trainers into downtown Baghdad, we know we helped increase his safety and helped secure the mission," Chapin, director of Training Systems Product Group at the Aeronautical Systems Center, said Wednesday during a media availability session at the base.
The group launched the first F-16 Mission Training Center at Shaw in January. The cutting-edge technology allows for up to four aircraft simulators to network together using a 360-degree visual system with flight and weapons simulations.
It is another example of technology developed at Wright-Pat that is being used during the war.
The base also shipped to the Middle East 'dust eater valves' for U.S. aircraft. The technology was developed late last year to combat the challenges posed by sand and dust.
Col. C.D. Moore, director of the F-16 System Program Office, said the valves prevent dust from getting into the aircraft's power systems, thus preventing system failure.
Brig. Gen. William J. Jabour, vice commander of the Aeronautical Systems Center, said the war will not affect plans for Air Power 2003 at the base May 10-11. However, spectators will be subject to metal detectors, random searches and ID checks during the open house, which will include a large display of aircraft.
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