78th Fighter Squadron ("Bushmasters") Intel Officer Goes on Training Mission, Shaw AFB SC, June 1997

One of the perks of being the intelligence officer for the 78th Fighter Squadron ("Bushmasters") at Shaw AFB, South Carolina, was that I was entitled (if I were so inclined) to ride in the backseat of a two-seat F-16D if it were ever scheduled for a training mission. The squadron was equipped with 22 single-seat F-16Cs, plus two fully combat capable two-seat D-models. During my time at with the Bushmasters (96-97), we effectively only had one two-seater since the other was in long-term maintenance. In any event, the lone D-model didn't seem to be on the training schedule that much. During my time at the 78th, I was able to fly eight training sorties. Riding along on training missions was pretty invaluable to my job an an intel officer as it allowed me to see first hand what information is being presented to the pilots during a mission and what kind of workload they endure. This video shows the preparations for my fourth sortie. I only recently had this video digitized, so the subtitles throughout are present day additions for some context. Sorry, no actual videos of the training mission itself. Also, you'll note everyone has a callsign in the squadron. My official callsign given to me by the Bushmasters was "Wingtip".

Видео 78th Fighter Squadron ("Bushmasters") Intel Officer Goes on Training Mission, Shaw AFB SC, June 1997 канала Joel Wright 2