WEBVTT 00:04.480 --> 00:06.960 - So I'm Major Mike Malone and I am 00:06.960 --> 00:11.043 the chief of Razor Talon, the OIC of Razor Talon. 00:11.461 --> 00:13.703 As we go out there and operate in real-world environments 00:13.703 --> 00:16.722 it's likely that we're gonna operate a joint environment 00:16.722 --> 00:18.814 with the Army, the Navy and the Marine Corps. 00:18.814 --> 00:21.002 And here in the East Coast, having the opportunity 00:21.002 --> 00:23.795 to operate with both fourth and fifth gen 00:23.795 --> 00:27.962 certainly helps us with our joint TTP integrations. 00:28.271 --> 00:32.231 In this particular Razor Talon exercise we have been able 00:32.231 --> 00:34.132 to integrate the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps 00:34.132 --> 00:37.818 and the Air Force and we're essentially synchronizing 00:37.818 --> 00:41.725 the effects of all their different capabilities, 00:41.725 --> 00:44.437 both air power as well as ground power to build, 00:44.437 --> 00:47.354 in this case, overtake an airfield. 00:47.465 --> 00:50.940 So this is, I think, a great example of what we could do 00:50.940 --> 00:52.233 if given the appropriate assets 00:52.233 --> 00:54.024 and the appropriate amount of time. 00:54.024 --> 00:56.914 So for this particular Razor Talon exercise, we began 00:56.914 --> 01:01.081 about February 15th or so and we had excellent coordination 01:01.225 --> 01:03.666 from all of our Navy Marine counterparts, specifically 01:03.666 --> 01:04.698 in the beginning with all the range 01:04.698 --> 01:06.679 and air space coordination. 01:06.679 --> 01:09.049 And then we also had a lot of great support from the 01:09.049 --> 01:12.345 14th ASOS in conjunction with 82nd Airborne 01:12.345 --> 01:14.543 to support us from a ground perspective. 01:14.543 --> 01:15.798 So that took about three months 01:15.798 --> 01:17.683 in order to put it all together. 01:17.683 --> 01:19.274 A typical Razor Talon of a smaller scale 01:19.274 --> 01:21.242 we can do in about a month. 01:21.242 --> 01:24.109 The 82nd Airborne supported by the 14th ASOS 01:24.109 --> 01:27.102 and the 93rd AGOW, and effectively the 14th ASOS 01:27.102 --> 01:30.232 has supported us in this particular Razor Talon 01:30.232 --> 01:33.649 by forward locating on Atlantic Airfield, 01:34.676 --> 01:36.808 simulating that they've airdropped out of a C-17 01:36.808 --> 01:39.426 that will actually be overflying that airfield. 01:39.426 --> 01:43.215 Then they're going to sort of act as 82nd Airborne, 01:43.215 --> 01:45.896 who they support on a daily basis, as they overtake 01:45.896 --> 01:48.979 Atlantic Airfield with 250 personnel. 01:50.696 --> 01:53.444 So real-world combatant commander objectives 01:53.444 --> 01:55.455 are obviously complex in nature, there's a lot 01:55.455 --> 01:58.205 of moving parts and outside of the Nellis Air Force Base 01:58.205 --> 02:00.261 range, complex, we don't really see an opportunity 02:00.261 --> 02:04.131 to combine all of our joint counterparts effectively. 02:04.131 --> 02:07.714 So here at Razor Talon, we've done the best 02:07.933 --> 02:10.042 we possibly could with the assets that we have, 02:10.042 --> 02:12.713 specifically located on the east coast 02:12.713 --> 02:14.966 and I think what we see is the capability 02:14.966 --> 02:18.210 to train here locally to the joint fight 02:18.210 --> 02:20.637 and the more complex scenarios such as 02:20.637 --> 02:23.387 an airfield seizure or joint DCA, 02:24.703 --> 02:26.703 defense of a coast line, 02:27.313 --> 02:31.055 those sorts of things though that when we get out there 02:31.055 --> 02:33.338 in a combat scenario, it's not the very first time 02:33.338 --> 02:34.921 that we've seen it. 02:35.602 --> 02:37.579 So there's downrange in the AOR, combatant commanders' 02:37.579 --> 02:40.869 objectives can be intense in nature and incredibly complex. 02:40.869 --> 02:43.645 So typically we have to go to a place like the NTTR 02:43.645 --> 02:44.682 out of Nellis in order to get 02:44.682 --> 02:46.187 that sort of large scale training. 02:46.187 --> 02:48.092 Well here at Razor Talon, we're able to bring all 02:48.092 --> 02:51.098 of the local assets along the east coast as well as a few 02:51.098 --> 02:55.265 of our C2ISR people who will fly in from Tinker and Offutt 02:55.528 --> 02:58.609 and places like that to support a large-scale exercise 02:58.609 --> 03:01.402 in a joint environment that I think does a great job 03:01.402 --> 03:03.558 of simulating something that we could see 03:03.558 --> 03:05.891 in a major combat operation. 03:06.476 --> 03:09.991 I think the main difference in Razor Talon is that 03:09.991 --> 03:12.584 to the max extent it's tried to be coordinated 03:12.584 --> 03:15.176 and planned at the CGO and FGO level. 03:15.176 --> 03:19.343 So we attempt to do all the coordination from the ground up 03:21.121 --> 03:23.943 with the people that we went to Weapons School with, 03:23.943 --> 03:26.596 trying to leverage the relationships that we built 03:26.596 --> 03:30.022 while we were at Nellis to create the most tactical 03:30.022 --> 03:32.386 training experience we possibly can, the least amount 03:32.386 --> 03:34.969 of cost, in a very localized environment. 03:34.969 --> 03:37.754 So I think it's unique in nature because of the fact 03:37.754 --> 03:40.462 that we're able to maintain that sort of tactical bubble 03:40.462 --> 03:44.045 around it and because it's local in nature. 03:44.589 --> 03:46.575 The Razor Talon war room was an incredible asset 03:46.575 --> 03:47.885 here in the 4th Fighter Wing. 03:47.885 --> 03:51.552 It allows the team of white force to be able 03:51.623 --> 03:55.790 to control the exercise real time with kill removals, 03:56.818 --> 03:59.999 controlling of the integrated air defenses 03:59.999 --> 04:02.511 as well as picking up the role of a lot of the assets 04:02.511 --> 04:05.120 that potentially we don't have on station, 04:05.120 --> 04:07.814 so we'll simulate some of the things we need to be out there 04:07.814 --> 04:09.329 with all the capabilities that the war room 04:09.329 --> 04:10.996 brings to the fight. 04:11.159 --> 04:13.161 So something that we didn't have before that we 04:13.161 --> 04:14.773 currently have or we're attempting to leverage, 04:14.773 --> 04:16.162 not just here at Seymour Johnson but throughout 04:16.162 --> 04:17.970 the east coast in connection with our Navy Marine 04:17.970 --> 04:22.137 counterparts as well as hopefully soon at Langley and Shaw. 04:22.291 --> 04:25.501 So it's very important to have a certain amount of Red Air 04:25.501 --> 04:27.613 out there to challenge the Blue Air threats 04:27.613 --> 04:30.718 especially we think about challenging the F-22 04:30.718 --> 04:34.885 with their capabilities as well as with the new edition 04:34.909 --> 04:39.076 of the F-35 and the new, upgraded modifications to the F-15E 04:39.852 --> 04:41.699 we really need as much Red Air as we possibly can 04:41.699 --> 04:45.866 because our systems are just getting that much better. 04:45.876 --> 04:49.959 It also does a great job of simulating the threat 04:50.416 --> 04:52.447 countries that exist out there that can produce 04:52.447 --> 04:55.156 a lot of numbers which we're gonna have to be able 04:55.156 --> 04:57.047 to deal with real-time downrange. 04:57.047 --> 05:00.331 So the main goal of Razor Talon is to have the opportunity 05:00.331 --> 05:03.498 to fly side by side with F-22s, F-16s, 05:04.064 --> 05:07.609 our C2ISR counterparts, and integrate the Navy Marines 05:07.609 --> 05:10.240 as often as possible to practice the building blocks 05:10.240 --> 05:12.490 of joint force integration. 05:13.078 --> 05:17.245 I plan to reach that goal by continuing with our monthly 05:18.131 --> 05:21.448 exercises, sort of to a building-block approach 05:21.448 --> 05:25.039 where we practice first on basic fight integration 05:25.039 --> 05:27.202 and then about once every quarter we'll continue 05:27.202 --> 05:29.816 to build into more of a joint force integration 05:29.816 --> 05:32.697 concept, bringing the Navy, Marines and the Army 05:32.697 --> 05:36.864 in to be able to practice those true combatant commander 05:37.792 --> 05:39.933 problem sets that exist in the world. 05:39.933 --> 05:42.256 Now Razor Talon is unique as compared to something like 05:42.256 --> 05:46.089 a Red Flag or a Red Flag-Alaska or potentially 05:47.002 --> 05:49.008 through the international exercise we've been in 05:49.008 --> 05:52.425 because it's here local in nature, right? 05:52.818 --> 05:56.605 So we can, here at Seymour Johnson, host the exercise. 05:56.605 --> 05:59.323 Folks don't have to necessarily come TDY here, 05:59.323 --> 06:00.749 they can fly from their home station. 06:00.749 --> 06:02.692 We can all meet in the air space. 06:02.692 --> 06:04.809 And through distributed mission planning and 06:04.809 --> 06:06.988 distributed debriefing we can still get the same 06:06.988 --> 06:10.655 lessons learned and the same effect as if we 06:12.209 --> 06:16.376 deployed to like Nellis or Alaska and were there in person. 06:17.823 --> 06:20.245 I think that if we continue on our current course 06:20.245 --> 06:23.146 with the people and the assets that we have here 06:23.146 --> 06:25.232 at Seymour Johnson in place, there's just no reason why 06:25.232 --> 06:28.086 this can't continue to be the best training opportunity 06:28.086 --> 06:30.919 on the east coast for a long time. 06:31.931 --> 06:35.071 I think that for me, my favorite part about being 06:35.071 --> 06:37.433 a fighter pilot is the opportunity to go downrange, 06:37.433 --> 06:41.600 deploy with my brothers and sisters to go into harm's way, 06:41.989 --> 06:46.156 to execute the mission of the United States of America, 06:46.846 --> 06:48.720 in a forward deployed environment, 06:48.720 --> 06:51.204 and to bring everybody back home safely. 06:51.204 --> 06:52.037 I don't think there is truly another way to be 06:52.037 --> 06:55.537 at the tip of the spear that's as violent, 06:57.011 --> 06:59.321 as authentic, as being a fighter pilot. 06:59.321 --> 07:01.218 And I would just encourage anybody to chase that dream 07:01.218 --> 07:03.040 because it's incredibly worthy.