On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 17:00:18 GMT, Juvat
wrote:

Buzzer posted:

B-52 crews in the states trained as they would fight, but
fighter crews that were much closer to the "enemy" trained with one
hand tied behind their back?

WRT to turning the ALQ-119/131 on when you carried a war pod? Sure.
But in USAFE we routinely practiced/exercised all aspects of EC.

We got our Mode IV checked at EOR, getting a thumbs up or down from
the checking us. Did this in TAC and PACAF too.

We routinely did fence checks, ALR-46 in "Training" file rather than
"Open" or "Priority." Everybody...everybody knew what a ZSU-23/4
symbology looked like on the RWR. I remember what the F-16 radar
warning sounds like versus an F-4 radar. I knew that the "batwing" was
a high band threat and the "airplane" was medium band, and which
etched ring the four dots should be on...

Continuing with our everyday fence check...simulate the Pod in "Xmit 2
with xx buttons depressed." During NATO/USAFE or local exercises we
used certain local routes to simulate the Mike Plan (min risk ATC
procedures), and we used actual min risk recovery procedures. We got a
"mickey" from the Command Post after engine start to program the Have
Quick radios and checked them in secure mode but didn't use that
feature inflight since ATC and GCI weren't on the net.

And finally, Wings included pages to their aircrew weapon's guide (AKA
Ladies' Aid) that specifically covered unclassified ALR-46 and ALQ-119
operations, testing, and fault remedies. And this was for normal
day-to-day ops.

The only thing missing was carrying ECM pods routinely, and the lack
of EW ranges to practice. Once in a great while we could practice with
training pods on the Ramstein RBS or the Spade Adam range in the UK.

Did they have sims at different bases so you could at least practice
everything all together? They have cargo plane sims.

I guess what really bothers me how did they figure the OR rate for a
pod that was never used? Do the new know it all do it all pods have a
sensor that could tell if the final amp was bad if it was never turned
on?