MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. \u2014 U.S. Air Force and Royal Air Force Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC) trained side by side at Moody Air Force Base, strengthening interoperability through bilateral close air support training.<\/p>\n
The recurring training brings RAF JTACs to Moody to work alongside Airmen from the 74th, 75th and 76th Fighter Squadrons, providing opportunities to exchange tactics, strengthen professional relationships and ensure both nations are prepared to operate together in future contingencies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a great opportunity for us to train with foreign aircraft and foreign pilots while working with different tactics and building our knowledge of close air support,\u201d said Warrant Officer Class 2 Chris Fletcher, 4th Regiment Royal Artillery formation senior JTAC. \u201cEvery time we come, we learn something new.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Royal Air Force has conducted training at Moody since 2015, returning twice each year to maintain qualifications and expose both experienced and newly qualified JTACs to a variety of aircraft and operational environments. Fletcher said this year\u2019s training also focused on developing junior JTACs as they gain experience directing aircraft in realistic scenarios.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery exercise is different,\u201d said Maj. Nivruth Maramreddy, 23d Fighter Group chief of standardization and evaluation. \u201cThere\u2019s always different things we\u2019re testing, different tactics we\u2019re exploring and different members of the team.\u201d<\/p>\n
For JTACs and pilots, standardized communication is essential to safely execute close air support missions.
\n\u201cWe all strive to speak the same common language,\u201d Maramreddy said. \u201cIn the moment, when you\u2019re about to release ordnance in close proximity to friendly forces, you don\u2019t have the ability to ask someone on the radio, \u2018Can you clarify what you meant by that?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Moody\u2019s nearby training ranges allow aircrews and JTACs to brief together before missions and conduct face-to-face debriefs afterward.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe debrief is where most of the learning happens,\u201d Maramreddy said. \u201cBeing able to brief together, execute the mission and then come back together to debrief in person speaks volumes to the growth of the entire close air support team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Beyond tactical proficiency, both leaders emphasized that repeated training strengthens the long-standing partnership between the United States and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe love coming out here,\u201d Fletcher said. \u201cWe love working with the squadrons, working with the pilots and learning what they know and making ourselves better.\u201d<\/p>\n
By continuing to train together, U.S. Air Force and Royal Air Force JTACs build trust, shared understanding and interoperability needed to operate effectively whenever and wherever allied forces are called upon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. \u2014 U.S. Air Force and Royal Air Force Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC)…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":726535,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-726534","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=726534"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/726534\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/726535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=726534"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=726534"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=726534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}