303rd Fighter Squadron wins Hawgsmoke

  • Published
  • By Maj. David Kurle
  • 442nd Fighter Wing public affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  In what is the Air Force’s version of the Olympic Games for A-10 pilots, the 442nd Fighter Wing’s 303rd Fighter Squadron emerged as the gold-medal winner after competing against 19 other squadrons from around the world at “Hawgsmoke ‘06” over the Arizona desert.

Four of the Air Force Reserve squadron’s pilots competed in the event, held every two years to test the mettle of A-10 operators and their lead-spitting, bomb-dropping, close-air-support aircraft.

Lt. Col. Ronald Hankes, Lt. Col. James Mackey, Maj. Stephen Nester and Capt. Brian Leiter were selected to represent the 303rd FS at the competition and brought the title of Hawgsmoke champions to the 442nd FW at Whiteman Air Force Base despite having to fly A-10s belonging to another unit because their own aircraft are being prepared for an overseas deployment.
 
“We had a good, solid tactical plan that led us through and the guys were all able to execute as planned,” said Colonel Hankes, the 303rd FS active-duty flight commander and flight lead for the Hawgsmoke team. “The fact we won means this squadron has a lot of talent.”
 
This year’s “A-10 Olympics” were held at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., and featured a four-part tactical event pilots complete in a single sortie of just under two hours flying a four-aircraft formation. 

“This is an outstanding testament to the training and skill of the pilots in the 303rd Fighter Squadron,” said Col. Patrick Cord, 442nd FW commander. “By being named an Air Force outstanding unit earlier this year we proved we are one of the best at supporting the A-10’s mission, and now by winning Hawgsmoke, we have proved we are the best at executing the A-10’s mission.” 

Colonel Hankes also credits the 442nd Maintenance Group with contributing to the outstanding showing at this year’s competition. 

“The maintenance group provided four airplanes for an extra practice session on the Monday before the competition,” he said. “If we hadn’t had that, we wouldn’t have had enough practice time to win. We appreciated it big time, especially given how busy maintenance is with preparing for deployment, accepting nine additional aircraft from New Orleans and modifying our jets with new multi-function color displays. We really appreciate their efforts.” 

The competition is dubbed Hawgsmoke because the A-10 is referred to as the “Warthog” by its pilots and maintainers. The “smoke” is a reference to an Air Force competition to test aerial dog-fighting skills known as “Gunsmoke.” 

“They purposely wanted to build a realistic tactical situation,” Colonel Hankes said. “The challenge was the time constraint, we were one of the few units to do it and do it well.”
Pilots completed all four parts of the competition by flying from one area of the Barry Goldwater Range complex in Arizona to another, within the time limits imposed by Hawgsmoke officials. The four parts of the contest tested pilots’ skill in long-range strafing, manual bombing, low-angle strafing and employing the AGM-65 “Maverick,” air-to-ground missile. 

Prior to the long-range strafing event, the four A-10 pilots flew their aircraft in a holding pattern outside the range and were provided with four envelopes, according to Colonel Hankes. Two minutes prior to their scheduled time to enter the range, the pilots were instructed to open one of the four envelopes, which provides the coordinates where four vehicles were last seen on the ground and the direction they were heading. 

The four pilots then had five minutes to acquire the four targets, set up for their attack and to simulate using the A-10’s 30-milimeter cannon to take them out, all while flying according to strict tactical guidance to avoid ground and air threats, such as using hills and other terrain to mask their movements. 

“The judges said we were the only unit to execute the tactical portion effectively.” Colonel Hankes said. 

After a successful strafing run it was on to the bombing event. Each aircraft dropped six BDU-33 practice bombs on fixed ground targets within a 20-minute time limit using only manual bombing techniques by turning off the A-10’s targeting computer. 

“Most of this competition was based on old-style manual bombing, like they did in Vietnam,” Colonel Hankes said. “It’s like using fixed sights on a rifle instead of a scope with a laser sight. It reduces bombing to pure pilot skill.” 

The third event was firing actual 30-milimeter rounds at a fixed ground target while flying at 200-feet above the ground, followed by the fourth event: the simulated launch of Maverick missiles at moving vehicles within a 5-minute time limit. 

“People were actually driving around in vehicles, making turns and trying to avoid us, so the Maverick portion was very challenging,” Colonel Hankes said. 

“It was a very fast-paced and challenging, but fun, profile,” said Captain Leiter, the youngest member of the 303rd’s Hawgsmoke team. “Getting back to the basic roots of manual bombing and manual strafing helps to solidify our other skills in the A-10.” 

When the scores were tallied, the four pilots placed first overall and were the first place tactical team and second place Maverick team. Colonel Hankes personally finished second in level bombing and also placed second as the overall individual pilot. 

“When we finished, we knew we had a solid performance,” he said. “By the time we got the final announcement, I had such a stack of awards on my desk; I was kind of thinking we would be a player for the overall award.” 

The fruits of victory also include the obligation to host the next Hawgsmoke competition scheduled for 2008. 

The 303rd Fighter Squadron is looking at hosting the event either here at Whiteman AFB or in Salina, Kan., said Lt. Col. John Hoff, the 303rd FS commander. 

As the 303rd prepares for actual combat operations with an overseas deployment scheduled for this summer, the victory at Hawgsmoke confirms that the Air Force Reserve squadron has been training well, according to Colonel Hankes. 

“The same talent, drive and dedication that served us well for Hawgsmoke will serve us well on our upcoming deployment,” he said.