Tyndall hosts major weapons evals

TYNDALL AFB, Fla. - The 325th Fighter Wing is approaching the conclusion of Combat Archer 19-8 that was conducted in conjunction with the on-going Checkered Flag 19-1 exercise at Tyndall Air Force Base from May 6-17. CA is also known as the Weapons Systems Evaluation Program and is the Pentagon’s largest air-to-air live-fire evaluation exercise. “Combat Archer is readiness,” said Lt. Col. Vaimana Conner, 83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron commander, and gives confidence to senior leaders that “ensures both the operations and maintenance crews are ready to employ in combat in an air-to-air environment.” Squadron leaders monitor the life span of a missile to assess execution performance by maintenance crew members, aircraft armament systems members and aircrew members. Participants included squadrons across the AF, including Virginia-based 494th Fighter Squadron and 67th FS, and 94th FS - assigned to Kadena Air Base, Japan - that employed variations of live air-intercept missiles against unmanned aerial targets remotely operated by the 82nd Aerial Target Squadron. The aircrew battled against the simulated threats over the Gulf of Mexico. Combat Archer 19-8 is an extensive exercise on its own, but Tyndall leaders combined the operation with Checkered Flag 19-1 because of the complimentary objectives that focus on air-to-air conflict. According to Conner, more than 40 aircraft and 800 personnel participated in the exercises, making it the largest training operation since Hurricane Michael that hit the Panama City area in October 2018. (Source: 325th Fighter Wing 05/16/19)