Tuesday, 4 September 2012, 1040 local time - a fourship of United States Air Force A-10 "Thunderbolt” fighters arrive in the airspace above the 22nd Air Base at Namest in the south of the Czech Republic. It is the first time this type of aircraft has landed at this Czech air base. The A-10s arriving in a formation, do an overflight and then a break away one after the other to land at Namest. As they roll into their parking position, another A-10 four-ship comes in to touch down.
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US Air Force A-10 fourship flying in |
With these eight air-to-ground fighter aircraft arriving, Exercise Ramstein Rover 12 (RARO12) finally gets going. As the engines are shut down, German Air Force Colonel (General Staff) MSc Harry H. Schnell, the RARO12 Exercise Director, and Colonel Miroslav Svoboda, senior Czech officer at RARO12, step up to welcome Lieutenant-Colonel Clinton Eichelberger, US Air Force, the leader of the first fourship. He is also the detachment commander of the eight A-10s from 81st Fighter Wing based at Spangdahlem, Germany, who will fly Close Air Support or CAS missions to support soldiers on the ground during fictitious training scenarios of RARO12.
Shortly after the A-10 landed, a Turkish C-160 transport aircraft arrived at Namest to off load elements of the Turkish armed forces contingent who will also participate in the exercise. Later this week, the Turkish F-16 fighter aircraft will fly in and so will the Slovak Mi-17 and the German PC-9 and Learjet. These international aircraft complement the Czech Air Force L-159, L-39 fighters as well as the Mi-24 helicopter who will all be used as flying assets to train Forward Air Controllers (FAC), who direct and control the supporting aircraft to the target during RARO12 very beneficial opportunity to exercise with these entities.
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Turkish C-160 Transall landing at Namest Air Base |
Officially starting on 5 September and closing on 21 September, RARO12 is an advanced training opportunity to exercise Close Air Support (CAS) and FAC capabilities. RARO12 provides realistic pre-deployment training for FACs to be deployed to NATO's ISAF operation in Afghanistan.
Pictures copyright: JMIC RARO12