“Now that we’re on the third TMOTA people are starting to get a feel for it. I think the 391st have done a phenomenal job. They had two things going for them, one is the facility they have here, the ramp space and airfield and then there was the airspace itself. This meant the training aspect was outstanding, with great threat simulations, air refuelling and the NATO AWACS in support. Out of the three Tiger Meets so far, this has been the most dynamic in terms of the flying aspect.”

Those were the words of Maj Craig ‘Lobo’ Wolf, 120th FS Director of Operations and Tiger chief for the Colorado Cougars at the conclusion of the third Tiger Meet Of The Americas (TMOTA), hosted by the ‘Bold Tigers’ of the 391st FS at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, October 14/21 2005.

Lobo should know, he has been closely involved in all aspects of the North American Tiger Meet since its inception by his squadron at Buckley AFB, Colorado back in 2001. Back then the small team setting up the first ever gathering of feline units for a few days of flying and socialising in the US were basically working blind, with very little knowledge of the organisation of a Tiger Meet, just the enthusiasm to make it happen. A working knowledge of the way the NATO Tiger Meets are organised in Europe was used to create social events and a series of Tiger games to compliment the more serious flying exercise. This proved a success and a biennial event was created that arrived at Mountain Home in 2005 via the 2003 TMOTA in Cold Lake, Canada.

The knowledge gained in Colorado and Canada gave the 2005 events Project Officer, Maj Troy ‘Bucket’ Orwan, a F-15E Weapons System Officer with the 391st FS, a good foundation to build on, although he too had no first-hand knowledge of a Tiger Meet. “I knew Tiger Meets existed but I’d never been in a Tiger squadron. So this is the first time I’ve been to a Tiger Meet and also, by the way, the first one I’ve hosted! I enlisted the help of Maj Michael ‘Nuttin’ Eltz who was in charge of logistics and Capt David ‘Mopp-2’ Stamps, who took on the social planning with the maintenance aspects looked after by MSgt Sean McGuire and 1 Lt. Gerald Davis.”

On October 14 a total of seven units with twenty-five aircraft and three hundred and twenty one personnel joined the Bold Tigers at Mountain Home for TMOTA 2005

79th FS ‘Tigers’	6 x F-16CJ (Air Combat Command)	120th FS ‘Cougars’	6 x F-16C (Colorado ANG)
916th ARW ‘Totin’ Tigers’	2 x KC-135R (Air Force Reserve Command)	200th AS ‘Bobcat’	1 x C-21A (Colorado ANG)
393rd BS ‘Tigers’	2 x T-38A (Observers)	37th BS ‘Tigers’	1 x B-1B (Flying from Ellsworth AFB)
410/416 TFS ‘Cougar/Lynx’	5 x CF-18A (Canadian Forces)	1 Squadron ‘Tigers’	1 x E-3A (NATO AEW Component)

A key aspect of the 2005 TMOTA’s timing in mid-October was to coincide with the German Air Force Tactical Training Centre (GAFTTC) Tornado unit from Holloman AFB, NM deploying to Mountain Home. Maj Orwan explained: “They came up here for their Weapons School Mission Employment (ME) phase so we worked together to get them involved. We said that we will do Blue and Red-Air for you if you will do Red-Air for us. Then we got together for an Oktoberfest on Saturday night, which was the brainchild of theirs.”

Flying Tigers

At the heart of the TMOTA is the Large Force Employment (LFE) flying exercise. The key to providing meaningful training for the participating units is to integrate their individual training requirements into a large-scale air-war. Lobo explained the process. “Before we came up the 391st asked us (120th FS) where we wanted our training focus to be. They then built the training scenarios around what everybody wanted to achieve. We looked at where we were in our training cycle and used the missions here to sharpen our claws.’ “

Our objectives are primarily to build operational and tactical awareness between different aircraft types and nations, how we fly” – said Maj Orwan – “Also, to build up personal and professional ties so if the time comes that we have to fight alongside these people, it will be easier to work with them, because we know them, their capabilities, and their limitations. We get to learn their unique operational procedures and we set some extra capabilities briefings aside so the guys can learn about that aspect.”

Maj Orwan explained how the 391st set-up the LFEs, “We planned the air-war primarily to go into an integrated Air Defence system (IADS) and kick down the door, taking out the IADS. We set up simulated Weapons of Mass Destruction, Chemical and Biological facilities on the range as our targets. We had Red-Air F-15Es simulating Mig-29s and GAF Tornados simulating Mig-23s against Blue-Air CF-18s in the Offensive Counter Air (OCA) role with four F-16CJs from Shaw doing the Suppression of Enemy Air Defences (SEAD). Then we had the four F-16Cs from Buckley, eight F-15Es from here and two B-1s from Ellsworth doing the bombing. We had AWACS doing Command and Control (C-2) and two KC-135s doing air-to-air refuelling. The base provided us with the airspace and ground threats and provided us with our targets on the Mountain Home Range Complex, the range we use on a daily basis.”

79th FS Commander LtCol Scott Manning was a strong advocate of the way the TMOTA missions provide valuable training: “A lot of the time, when we deploy to something like a Red Flag or even a Combat Hammer, the training is extremely intense. However, the Tiger Meet allows you to validate your training in a less intensive environment. You’re not under someone else’s microscope while you are doing the training. This morning we had a very good mission and the Tiger Meet allowed it to become that, by allowing people to get comfortable with each other. Having a few days of emphasis on bringing everyone together, it sets a great tone for the training missions.”

Go faster ‘Tiger’ stripes…

Go to any Tiger Meet and you will immediately notice some of the jets are not in their standard military liveries. Painting your lead jet in colourful Tiger stripes is a long standing tradition, part of the Tiger sub-culture that has grown to provide Crew Chiefs and maintainers a chance to compete to produce the best Tiger paint scheme for the Meet. Once approval has been given there will be an endless variety of colourful markings created by people like SSgt Andrew Johnson and his team from the 391st AMX. Just drawing the Tigers head on each side of their flagship F-15E took SSgt Johnson a total of sixteen hours! More time was spent on the speed brake and tail markings, plus details like a TMOTA badge on the wheel hubs. Black vinyl stripes finished off the look! All of this work, typical of all the teams who could paint their jets, would only last for the week of the Meet and in a few cases a few weeks longer. All this work is carried out voluntarily and paid for out of squadron funds, in fact every aspect of a Tiger Meet apart from the flying, which comes out of the units own flying-hour budgets, is paid for from squadron funds and a ‘landing fee’ charged to every participant. The TMOTA had a trophy consisting of a chromed paint spray gun donated to them by 410 TFS at the 2003 Cold Lake Tiger Meet and this is presented to the best Tiger painted jet at each subsequent Tiger Meet.

TMOTA Trophy Time

Apart from the overall winners silver globe, known as the ‘spirit’ trophy, and the trophy for best paint scheme there is also a trophy for the best maintenance team, decided in a competition to generate four jets for their next mission. New for the 2005 TMOTA is a trophy donated by the 391st FS to be awarded from now on to the squadron nominated to host the next Tiger Meet, similar to the ‘Bronze Tiger’ awarded in Europe by the NATO Tiger Association. It was felt that the previous system, whereby the overall winner also hosted the following event, precluded some teams from winning, as they would find hosting a TMOTA either difficult or impossible. The 2005 honours went as follows:

Best maintenance team:	391st AMX, Mountain Home AFB.
Best painted jet:	120th FS/140th Wing Colorado ANG.
TMOTA 2007 hosts:	79th FS, Shaw AFB.
TMOTA 2005 overall winners and custodians of the ‘Spirit’ trophy for the next two years:	120th FS/140th WG, Colorado ANG.

Keeping The Tiger Tradition Alive

Final words on TMOTA 2005 went to LtCol Manning, current commander of the 79th FS, one of the three founding squadrons that started the Tiger Meet tradition back in 1961. “There was always an aura about the 79th because it was a Tiger squadron. The Tiger is a predator, a fierce predator, giving the squadron a great personality and a great heritage.

I knew of Tiger Meets when I was stationed in Europe in the late 80’s, early 90’s but I never had the opportunity to participate in one. I do think the Tiger Meets are very unique, very special. I’m just appreciative of the folks who allow the tradition to carry on because I think the Tiger Meet tradition is very important.”