Features

Friends in fast lane

Sitting in front of a F-15E Strike Eagle are comrades Squadron Leader Daryl, Flight Lieutenant Matt and Flight Lieutenant Paul – each serving in the Middle East with different air forces. Photo by SGT W. Guthrie

By FLTLT Christine Bradley

ON January 17, 1991, as the opening strikes of Desert Storm were occurring in the first Gulf War, three young guys met for the first time as they embarked on their careers in the Royal Australian Air Force.

Never did they imagine that 12 years later they would stand together on a desert air base in the Middle East as Australian fast jet aircrew serving with three different air forces.

Squadron Leader Daryl (last names are not used to identify deployed aircrew), went as a pilot to the Middle East with the Australian F/A-18s, along with long-time mates Flight Lieutenant Matt, on exchange with the US Air Force flying combat missions in the F-15E Strike Eagle and Flight Lieutenant Paul, who flew missions over Iraq as a weapons systems officer on exchange with the Royal Air Force in GR-4 Tornadoes.

“It’s great to come away to something like this and be able to hear about the good work that the RAAF are doing from the other side of the fence,” FLTLT Paul said.

“They have made people sit up and take notice by proving that they can produce the goods not just in exercises, but in real-time operations.”

While overseas exchange positions are always highly sought after, the program delivered real benefits for Coalition crews who operated in the Middle East.

“It really does help the cross-pollination of ideas and tactics. All the Coalition partners do a lot of good work and it means that sort of information can be more easily shared across the forces,” FLTLT Matt said.

Among the British and US air forces, there were also a number of personnel who had spent time on reciprocal exchanges in places such as Amberley and Williamtown. This assisted to fit the Coalition together, SQNLDR Daryl said.

“When everyone understands each other’s capabilities it means you can plug straight in,” he said.

When asked about his feelings on being involved in a conflict with his mates from both sides of the globe, he reflected,
“Comradeship has been the highlight of my career within the Air Force so far. The comradeship we’ve shared in this conflict has been no different.”