Haven't seen this link posted here yet, may have missed it. Got this link from my old man, an eagle driver turned Boeing rep.

www.fighterpilotfilm.com

Slainte

If this film is anything like the other IMAX films I've heard about, then it is a must see!!!

I think I'll make the trek down to Hampton to see it 12-10.

Can't wait till this comes out. Ill be the first one at the IMAX in Tallahassee.

How often is Red Flag?

As fighter guy, how often do you get to participate in any type of exercises like RF?

We participate all the time. Ooops, I'm a heavy guy so we just haul'm back and forth from the Sin City watering hole.

Toro, Hacker, anyone? He's interested in how much $$$ you lose and cranium cells you squander every time you go!

maaan, I said cranium...

Red Flags are held something like 7 times per year.

Over the last 5 years I've been in the fighter business, the frequency of Red Flag participations has changed somewhat. This is mostly due to real-world taskings like ONE and OIF.

All things being equal, it's a reasonable expectation to go at least once during a 3-year operational tour. My previous squadron *would* have done two Red Flags and one Maple Flag during my 3 years there, but the MF and one RF were CANX so we could play in ONE, OEF, and OIF.

On the other hand, there are guys from Vipers and Hogs that I fly with at Moody who have been through two ops tours (one normal and one Korea) and never been to Red Flag. So, as usual, your mileage may vary.

Regarding the funding of participating in a Red Flag or a WIC support...if you're not _at a minimum_ drinking your daily per diem, you're probably doing something wrong. If not that, then spending it at Blackjack or Craps is a suitable substitute.

Just remember, if you hit it big at Craps you're obligated to take the rest of the boys to the Dancing Bear establishment of your choice and supply the $ bills for the evening! I recommend Crazy Horse II, but Spearmint Rhino also isn't bad.

Ideally Red Flag coincides with the AEF cycle; they try to get squadrons to RF a couple months before they deploy. So in a perfect world, you'll go about once a year. Like Hacker said, it could be luck of the draw. My last squadron was getting ready to go when 9-11 happened and put a stop to everything. The next time we got spun up was when the war was about to kick off in Baghdad - CNX #2. When attempt #3 rolled around, I was PCSing and told 'no dice' because it was too close to my PCS date.

Red Flag isn't the only game out there (though it's the best) - there are plenty of other exercises that squadrons deploy to (called LFEs - Large Force Exercises). We did these every couple months or so.

[ 23. December 2004, 20:10: Message edited by: Toro ]

What is maple flag like?

Originally posted by scoobs:

What is maple flag like?

It's like Red Flag but colder, eh.

See, Canadians can do more than play hockey and brew beer...they make good targets too!

Originally posted by dumaisj:

See, Canadians can do more than play hockey and brew beer...they make good targets too!

I'm sure this wasn't your intention, but do remember there was that incident in Afghanistan...

Nope...nothing intended. My dad is a Canuck and I have dual citzenship, so I figured I was safe to poke fun at myself.

In twenty years, it will all be virtual anyway. (tongue in cheek, but probably not that far from the truth).