{"id":197111,"date":"2024-06-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=197111"},"modified":"2024-06-12T18:43:52","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T18:43:52","slug":"ramstein-hosts-nato-fighter-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=197111","title":{"rendered":"Ramstein hosts NATO fighter exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"
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RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, RHEINLAND-PFALZ, Germany (AFNS) — \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

At five times the force of gravity, the force of acceleration is enough to overwhelm a heart\u2019s ability to pump blood to the brain. If the effects aren\u2019t mitigated, a typical human can expect to black out within a few seconds from oxygen starvation.<\/p>\n

With top speeds of over 1,500 mph, modern fighter jets routinely pull up to 9 Gs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a fighter jet, you\u2019re sweating, you\u2019re breathing through an inch-wide oxygen tube, balancing a gamut of controls and devices, all while pushing your body to its absolute limits,\u201d explained retired Col. Cesar Rodriguez, a former U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II and F-15 Eagle<\/strong><\/a> pilot. \u201cThe threat of passing out at the controls is incredibly real.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez knows as much as anyone the dangers posed by being in a cockpit, making his attendance during a recent simulated basic fighting maneuvers exercise at Ramstein Air Base<\/strong><\/a> the through line between one of aerial combat’s most storied eras and the future of the aerial combat enterprise.<\/p>\n

The exercise, held June 6, comprised 37 aircraft from nine NATO countries, including both pilots and maintainers. According to Lt. Col. Michael Loringer, chief of weapons and tactics for U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa<\/strong><\/a> and mission planner for the exercise, working with peer nations not only sharpens shared tactics but ensures any deficiencies in each nation\u2019s pilot training curricula can be identified and corrected.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of us out here know each other \u2014 the global fighter community is pretty tight-knit,\u201d Loringer said. \u201cWhat we\u2019ve done with this exercise is we\u2019ve pitted the best of Germany, Norway, France, the U.S., all these countries against one another in simulated dogfights \u2014 air-to-air engagements. Iron sharpens iron, so when these pilots finish the exercise, they\u2019ll meet on the ground and discuss their fight.”<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not about winning. It\u2019s about learning,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez, likewise, emphasized a quality he feels transcends the decades and makes a fighter pilot truly great: Humility.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best pilots I\u2019ve known are the ones who, no matter how good they were or how much knowledge they had, were still looking for ways to improve,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez made a continuous loop motion with his hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce you feel you\u2019ve mastered your airframe, the technology is upgraded,\u201d he continued. \u201cOnce you feel you\u2019ve nailed a certain maneuver, it then becomes about perfecting that maneuver in coordination with other aircraft. There\u2019s a continuum of readiness on display during this exercise that speaks to the broader NATO philosophy of not only keeping your own nation ready but also keeping ready as a joint-nation alliance.\u201d<\/p>\n

While readiness was the main goal of the exercise, the skies weren\u2019t free from the occasional friendly rivalry.<\/p>\n

French Air Force Lt. Col. Guillaume Veuille, commander of the 3\/30th Fighter Squadron, has grown a friendship with Loringer throughout his career, participating in various exercises together.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (Loringer) is a great guy,\u201d said Veuille, smiling. \u201cFriendships like ours are common among our ranks and make it both a pleasure to work together and a reason to bring your best efforts to these types of engagements.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked how he thought he\u2019d fare in a fight with Loringer, Veuille gave a coy smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s just say it\u2019d be a tough fight,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Loringer, who introduced the idea for the exercise, admitted he had some inspiration for his initial pitch.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot sure how familiar everyone is with the documentary, \u2018Top Gun,\u2019 but it\u2019s founded on some solid logic,\u201d Loringer laughed, addressing a cadre of pilots during a pre-mission brief. \u201cAnd trust me, this exercise will have some Kenny Loggins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed, the exercise leaned into the fun as well, including a burger burn and a live band, creating an effective backdrop against which many friendships were made during the day\u2019s events.<\/p>\n

As the thunder above the German landscape dissipated and the sun began to set, the pilots and maintainers gathered for one last event before parting ways.<\/p>\n

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Huddled around an acoustic piano, the tone grew somber as the group prepared to set the piano alight \u2014 a tradition from World War II in which a piano was burnt in memory of fighter pilots killed in action.<\/p>\n

One by one, each pilot said aloud a name, each a fallen comrade, each with their own story, their own legend.<\/p>\n

\u201cHap Arnold.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMichael Scott Speicher.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJohn Bates.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGraham Higgins.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez, too, reflected on the allegory of the piano.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always compared flying to playing a piano symphony in the sky,\u201d he explained. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot to keep in mind, but there\u2019s also an art to it \u2014 a way of being \u2014 and that doesn\u2019t go away simply because you\u2019re back on the ground.\u201d<\/p>\n

The piano kept aflame for some time, surrounded by singing members of different countries, before finally collapsing, sending a mass of embers billowing into the yawning night.\n<\/p>\n

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U.S. Air Force Logo<\/title><\/p><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, RHEINLAND-PFALZ, Germany (AFNS) — \u00a0 At five times the force of gravity, the force of acceleration is enough to overwhelm a heart\u2019s ability to pump blood to the brain. If the effects aren\u2019t mitigated, a typical human can expect to black out within a few seconds from oxygen starvation. With top speeds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":197113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-197111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=197111"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":197114,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197111\/revisions\/197114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/197113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=197111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=197111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=197111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}