European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - June 1, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Magazine by Andrew Cockburn w c = in  Theta go Iii. Parachute harness helmet Black i Inlet Moor and oxygen Misk May look like a  com bal Avilo. Bul i see Iho Largel Only As a Burthen we Are Back ,11 Low level and racing or Home with Une Oiher f-4 on our Wing across the Hal Check Board Fields of Kansas. There and Bien no or in enemy fire and the Largel was just a Row of worn Oul . Army buses. But were in the real thing. I could be in worse places. Because i am flying with what May be the Best air Force in the would today otherwise known As fhe air National guard the air National guard it May sound a Lille a Pfarre to suggest that a Mittli of 505.000  warriors training in their spare  from civilian jobs could to the equal of. Let alone Superior to the trained regulars of the Active air Force. Yet the record shows that they Nave been steadily  on and Bealing regular a r Force units flying the most modern equipment available which is As Good a ipas you can ask for in he Arena of air . In formal competitions for both guard and air Force learns such As will am Tell and gun smoke which lest air to air and ground ii Lack skills. The militia came out on top of bettor equipped full finners for three years str Mihl. One example of Whyl makes their surprising excellence Post. Ble is sitting in in Pilof Seal in from of measure head Lof Home Mancu venny to avoid those homesteads known Lor Chr in sensitivity Aboul the awesome Noie of Low flying fighters. It. Col. Such Rose. Director of operations for she 1b4ih tac fighter group a guard training unit at Mcconnell fab in Wichita. Kan., is a in Rmer career air Force officer and combat Veteran. He has logged Moro than 4,000 hours Hying experience in be lighters As opposed to a lifetime average of about 600 hours for the air Force fliers he meets in air combat exercises. He is still flying Lignieres because that is what he wants to do and because the guard gives him the Opportunity to do it the irony is that had Rose stayed in the air Force he probably would have had of Slop Hying by now in favor of a career broadening staff assignment. As an instructor he gets to Fly More than most. But the average guard in embed Hies a total of about 2.000 hours in his military career. Furthermore while combat veterans still in the air Force have inevitably bean promoted out of the cockpit. 37 percent of guard fliers have the Edge in experience that comes from being Shol at. Alan Slickly. A Wichita construction equipment Salesman flying on our Wing during the practice Mission knows just to important in is Lolly toward and Over guns that Are firing at you Al Low level. A Piht with the North Carolina air National guard on a Mitt on. Air National guard world s bestir Force they can t Lead last enough to catch you that Way he says Maller of Farlly scary As hell  despite the guard s impressive credentials it still seems Asil the Odds would be slacked against us were we to run into opposition from an Active unit during our flight. Our f-4, Iho lighter now chiefly used by the guard May seem Gul wrenching by agile to a Lisl Home passenger but it has a lot of disadvantages in contrast to modern frontline fighters like the f-15 and f-16. It is old designed in the 1950s and built in the mid-1960s. Some of the planes on the parking ramp a Mcconnell have red stars on the Side indicating Mig kills Long ago Over Vietnam. Not Only is the f-4 far less Maneu Merable than Loday s lighters bul its Large size and Alle Danl plume of Black engine smoke also make in easily visible even so a Distant enemy. The commander of the 184th. Col. Rowland f. Smith who won the air Force Cross in Vietnam before leaving the service to join Twa explains just Why Iho Odds Are Moie even than they might appear. The technology of Iho weapons system is tar less of a Factor than the level of experience on either Side that s been shown again and again in the history of air combat. Of course when we go up against a unit Wilh a mature level of experience the weapons syst can becomes decisive but we be had a lot of Success Wilh the la epics we be developed against Active units because their pilots arc usually   Smith s run. Fur exr Nufo can anticipate and exploit the precise split second when an f-15 Pilot will take his eyes off the Iky to look at his instruments or know How to trick his radar into losing sight of them Lor an instant 50 mint they can slip into Ansilion for a kill. Active air Force aviator in boy much the  measure of advantage Over their sow to counterparts whose flying training lends to be Lar More restricted on the other hand the guard s Edrye in Quality does not come simply from upending a lot of hours in the cockpit. There Are less quantifiable bul equally import land factors at work. Everyone in a particular guard unit is i Here because to  la  says Butch Rose. No one ordered him there and no one is going to move him someplace  the air National guard is a militia under control of the slate which Means the governor commands the units within his  s Borders in peacetime service consists of an annual 15-Day train Ray period and one Al hand a month ii  of Iho year. The Cori a quince of this stability is that member of n guard unit will serve together or a very Long time and thus become thoroughly lion liar with each other s strengths and weaknesses and those of their leaders because Olli Cors Are promoted from within the unit. They Are free from the perennial curse of the air Force a constant rotation of individuals in and out of units in order to in slots and meet worldwide commitments. Under thru Syo Tom the Active units find it f a harder Tunc hit e i he degree of cohesion and Mutual Trust thai can Beall  fur any tight my Force. Signild cannily the vaunted israeli military pursues the air National guard s policy including the selection of officers from among the men they will Lead As with the israeli military the guard system encourages a relaxed and informal atmosphere. Haircuts and Shoeshine Are not a major priority and it is easy to spot the guard contingent at the Mcconneil officers club which they share Wilh the strategic air come unit stationed at the base especially if someone is demonstrating the bal hang a Man Euver that involves Downing a Large scotch while hanging by Iho toes from a rail Over the bar. The payout Lor the country irom the professional Quality of hese men and women about 10, women 10 percent of its number serve the guard goes beyond their own personal satisfaction. The United states cannot defend itself without them. The air National guard provided 30 percent of our total air capability last year at the bargain Rale of $2.8 billion which was Juei 3 percent of the Cost of the air Force budget. The guard is More 1han just .1 proficient flying club a Pohnl stiffly acknowledged by an air Force spokesman who concedes anything like his that reflects our Overall War lighting capability is  the guard s col. Smith puts it More succinctly we can beat any air Force in the world including our  co rinsed a Perm Mien Al Parade Mava Jiw the stars and stripes Page 13