European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - May 20, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 8 the stars and stripes game tactics Friday May 20, 1977 Dawn patrol pined planes against ships in a test of nato s response in the med by Mike Spear staff writer Dawn patrol 77, which has just concluded in the Mediterranean was a plan versus ship tactical chess game for . Air Force units flying out of the naval air facility at Simonella. Sicily. Although both sides looked on each other As Warsaw pact foes the game plan la bleed the air Force units As the As the enemy the air units from bases in England Germany and the . Fol Lowed tactical plans drawn up by members of the 81st tactical fighter Wing at Raf bin Waters , interdiction they mainly included sea surveillance and sea interdiction which Means finding and neutralizing enemy forces through the use of tactical air operations. As part of the exercise they flew air de sense intercepts close air support electronics warfare tactics and reconnaissance missions. They arrived at Simonella which was to be their base of operations in their f4s and fills knowing that this was going to be the nearest thing to actual wartime Type conditions Many of them had not seen for at least a year since the last Dawn patrol veterans were enthusiastic too. Said capt. Larry Price of the Gist s 78th tvs who not Only flew in Vietnam but was shot Down and held prisoner there for nearly a year i d like to do this 10 times a year. It s the closest to what it was like in Southeast primary Mission was to attack ships to try to get through the ships de lenses which included missiles guns and the Fleet s newest interceptor the f14 was a Challenge they did t need any prodding to get excited about. And perhaps their Eye is on the Fleet they re on a chaff run to confuse radar prior to the attack by f4s an three f4 phantoms head for the enemy Heel in the Mediterranean. A hand lettered sign in the command Post until the results Are evaluated. But the air Shack summed it up most succinctly Force pilots Felt they were doing a Good wit Gray sink Job. How Well the air Force carried out its their planning for the exercise began Mission and How Well the Navy defended Back in december and if any Wing was itself against attack won t be fully known suited for the operation the 81st was. It Southern flank a big Challenge by Bob hover staff writer Naples. Italy Sis the defense of nato s far reaching Southern flank from russian and East bloc air Power is a Chal Lenge that demands the ultimate in plan Ning and cooperation. A vast and varied Region of immense economic importance the Mediterranean is regarded by military planners As an Arena that requires constant vigilance and consultation among allies. It. Gen. Joseph g. Wilson Usan com Mander of Allied air forces Southern it. Gen. Joseph g. Wilson Europe air South Points out that multinational cooperation is indispensable to the defense of the Region. The most Likely threat to the Alliance could Well be in this Wilson said As he took Stock of Dawn patrol an annual exercise designed to provide the kind of co operation that would be needed in the event of an attack from the East. Dawn patrol is one of two principal exercises held yearly by nato and Wilson believes that under current budgetary restraints the Alliance does Well to hold these two. But he adds that planning lakes place on a Day to Day basis to meet potential threats. Scheduled to leave his Post in August Wilson said his main concerns for the future Are the status of Greece in the Alli Ance and the Quality of munitions used in nato air forces in the Southern Region. Certainly i would Hope for the eventual re establishment of the greek air Force in nato and i would Hope we recognize the need to modernize munitions he said. Organized under air South in two Allied tactical air forces Are italian. Greek and turkish aircraft and Usan rotational squadrons. But the greek air Force has been inactive in the Alliance since the Cyprus crisis although it continues staff and planning roles a sign thai Wilson con siders hopeful for the the iwo Lac Lical air forces against the larger numbers of Easl bloc aircraft the importance of the greek role in the Alliance becomes the Southern Region features a variety of aircraft. Wilson says this does not create a maintenance problem. Further More he Points out that the Warsaw pact nations Fly As Many As seven or eight Dif Ferent types of aircraft All of russian design and says a major threat is posed by russian land based bombers badgers. Blinders and supersonic backfires flying out of airfields in the Crimea and the Cau Hundred of these aircraft exist and they Are capable of ranging through out the Mediterranean. The Alliance. Wilson Points out. Has an Active peace time Mission of air defense for the Region and of providing warning for Allied ships in the Mediterranean. With its variety of cultures spread across three continents Wilson is con Vinced the Mediterranean Region poses the ultimate Challenge in defense planning. He cited Russia s buildup in Iraq and Syria and the special arrangement the so Viets enjoy in Libya where russian technicians now Ere working with the libyan air Force As evidence of growing soviet Power in the at the airfields that would become available to Russia along the North african littoral in the event of hostilities Wilson said that in defending the Region it now becomes necessary to think in terms of a 360-degree threat rather than looking due cited the dependence of Europe on Middle East Oil As a Paramount reason for keeping the Southern flank of nato assessing the importance of Dawn patrol which saw aircraft from Safe the . Italy Turkey Belgium and Ger Many flying More than a 1.000 sorties Wilson exercise stressed the flexibility of the Alliance to respond to an Emer of limited scenario he said Dawn patrol and daily nato staff work Are needed to put the multinational Power of nato on a War is no question the nato staff concept would work in the event of Wilson general added that he was pleased to see portuguese observers at Dawn patrol and that he hoped the portuguese would participate in future exercises. Fills carrying Mavericks and laser guided bombs. Is by Spear often works tactically with Royal Navy ships off the coast of Britain so its part in Dawn patrol 77 came As sort of a graduate course in an area in which it was already Well , As the exercise progressed pre planned tactics were evaluated for effectiveness and improved upon reflecting one of Mission commander col. Charles l. Miln s byword for the Mission flexibility we must be flexible. If we re going to learn from this exercise we must stay flex he exercise which covered Central and Eastern Mediterranean areas began May 6 and lasted until May 18 and it involved air land naval and amphibious forces from seven nato countries England Italy Turkey the Netherlands Belgium. Ger Many and the . There were More than so ships and 100 aircraft participating. The Overall aim was to improve Readi Ness on nato s Southern flank. And to do this it s Overall plan included rapid employment of reinforcements and integrating multinational forces with forces assigned to the Southern Region. It also involved control of sea lanes m the Mediterranean and the capability of moving men and supplies through the sea lanes to rein Force land based forces. In the Central Mediterranean a naval Force assembled at Augusta Sicily for several Days of work on Antisubmarine and air defense procedures then an amphibious Force assaulted Sardinia at Capo Teu Lada. In the Eastern Mediterranean a naval Force met at Izmir Turkey and practice sea control. But for the . Air Force the War on the Fleet began on May 14 with on attack on six nato ships. Two Days later the planes concentrated on the aircraft Carrier John f. Kennedy and ships accompanying it. Then one More Day of sorties followed. A big part of the exercise and probably a key to the outcome involved the use of Kim or electronic counter measures and it is a subject that scarcely gets past the acronym when it comes up for discussion. One officer tells of a nato meeting on the topic that supposedly began like this gentlemen this is a meeting to discuss eco. Now the first thing i have to Tell you is that we can t talk about basically it involves the ability of one Force to Jam the surveillance radar of an other. It s always a changing thine a quest com. On 1.
