Does enybody can tell me which squadron is placed in Anchorage, Alaska

About 2,300 miles north of Nellis, at Eielson AFB, Alaska, the 354th Operations Group is also adding an aggressor squadron. There, the 18th Fighter Squadron is preparing to swap its current fleet of Block-40 F-16 Fighting Falcons for the Block-30 version. In October 2007, the unit will change its name to the 18th AGRS.

Full story:
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123032069

Air Force declassifies elite aggressor program

11/13/2006 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- After decades of secrecy, Air Force officials acknowledged Nov. 13 that Communist-built fighters were flown at the Tonopah Test Range northwest of Las Vegas, Nev.

From 1977 through 1988, the program, known as Constant Peg, saw Air Force, Navy and Marine aircrews flying against Soviet-designed MiG fighters as part of a training program where American pilots could better learn how to defeat or evade the Communist bloc's fighters of the day.

Brig. Gen. Hawk Carlisle, the 3rd Wing commander at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, is a former member of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron and remembers the valuable training the unit provided.

"CONSTANT PEG afforded pilots an opportunity to learn how to fight enemy aircraft in a controlled, safe environment without having to endure the risks of actual air combat," said General Carlisle. "Typically a pilot would start with a basic familiarization flight to observe the enemy airplane and study its characteristics, practicing one-on-one defensive and offensive maneuvers against it, and finally, experience multi-bogey engagements high over the desert scrubland of the Nellis Air Force Base ranges."

As a result of marginal performance of American fighter forces in the skies over North Vietnam, Constant Peg complemented other revolutionary training programs such as Red Flag and Top Gun, and the Air Force and Navy-Marine aggressor squadrons. The program also was intended to eliminate the "buck fever" or nervous excitement many pilots experience on their first few combat missions. Historical experience indicated that pilots who survived their first ten missions were much more likely to survive a complete combat tour, and Constant Peg was intended to teach them the right "moves" to enable them to come out on top of any engagement.

The end of the Constant Peg nearly coincided with the end of the Cold War, by which time some of its graduates already had proven themselves in actual air combat.

Threat aircraft flown by the Red Eagles spanned several decades and technical generations of capability. There was the MiG-17 Fresco, a small, agile single-seat transonic fighter placed in service just after the Korean War and used extensively over Vietnam and the Middle East; the MiG-21 Fishbed, a high supersonic fighter used world-wide in large numbers, and the swing-wing MiG-23 Flogger, likewise in global service, an attempt by the Soviets to match the sophisticated capabilities of the F-4 Phantom.

"Although it came too late to influence Vietnam, Constant Peg training greatly influenced the success of American Airmen in Desert Storm, who shot down 40 Iraqi fighters, many of which were Fishbeds and Floggers," said General Carlisle.

Story link:
http://www.af.mil/news/story.asp?storyID=123031752

Yes, those were MiGs flying over Nevada

Staff report

If you thought you saw a Soviet-designed MiG fighter in the skies of Nevada during the late 1970s and early ‘80s, the Air Force now says you weren’t hallucinating.

The Air Force today acknowledged it flew Communist-built fighters at the Tonopah Test Range northwest of Las Vegas, Nev.

From 1977 through 1988, the program, known as Constant Peg, saw U.S. Air Force, Navy, and Marine aircrews flying against Soviet-designed MiG fighters as part of a training program in which American pilots could better learn how to defeat or evade the Communist bloc's fighters of the day.

The Soviet aircraft flown by the Red Eagles spanned several decades and generations of capability.

There was the MiG-17 Fresco, a small, agile single-seat transonic fighter placed in service just after the Korean War and used extensively over Vietnam and the Middle East; the MiG-21 Fishbed, a high supersonic fighter used world-wide in large numbers, and the swing-wing MiG-23 Flogger, likewise in global service, an attempt by the Soviets to match the sophisticated capabilities of the F-4 Phantom.

Brig. Gen. Hawk Carlisle, 3rd Wing commander at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, is a former member of the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron who remembers the valuable training the unit provided.

"Constant Peg afforded pilots an opportunity to learn how to fight enemy aircraft in a controlled, safe environment, without having to endure the risks of actual air combat," Carlisle said.

"Typically a pilot would start with a basic familiarization flight to observe the enemy airplane and study its characteristics, practicing ‘one-on-one’ defensive and offensive maneuvers against it, and finally, experience multi-bogey engagements high over the desert scrubland of the Nellis ranges.

Constant Peg complemented other training programs such as Red Flag, Top Gun and the Air Force and Navy-Marine aggressor squadrons.

The program was also intended to eliminate the "buck fever" or nervous excitement many pilots experience on their first few combat missions.

The end of Constant Peg nearly coincided with the end of the Cold War, by which time some pilots had proven themselves in air combat.

Story link:
http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php? ... 354115.php

Details of secret MiG squadron unfold

By Bruce Rolfsen, Staff writer

Imagine having to fly and maintain Soviet MiG fighters without tech data and spare parts.

That was the challenge airmen assigned to the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron faced for 12 years when the unit’s secret assignment was to fly about two dozen MiG fighters.

This week, the Air Force began allowing former 4477th squadron members to talk about their experiences. Air Force Times interviewed three members for a story appearing in the Nov. 27 edition of the paper, on newsstands Monday.

The squadron was based at an airfield in the midst of southern Nevada’s isolated Tonopah Test Range, the airmen said.

About 220 airmen and 25 MiGs were assigned to the squadron. Most of the airmen were either senior non-commissioned officers or veteran pilots who had flown as aggressors or weapons school instructors. There were also Navy and Marine Corps pilots.

The squadron’s main mission was to fly against units deployed to Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. The deployed pilots would spend two weeks learning how MiG-17s, 21s and 23s flew and fought.

The MiG pilots would fly as many as three sorties a day with most flights lasting less than an hour.

When the MiG pilots and maintainers went home to their families in the Las Vegas area, they couldn’t tell the families any details of the assignment.

Even when two pilots died flying MiGs, the Air Force couldn’t disclose the details.




This patch was worn by the 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron, the Red Eagles, which operated MiG-21 Fishbeds and MiG-23 Floggers over Nevada during the 1970s and ’80s. — U.S. Air Force

Story link:
http://www.airforcetimes.com/story.php? ... 363755.php

This all came "out" in 1984 when Lt. Gen. Bond was killed in a MIG-23. I guess now it's official.

The Air Force also has a few MIG-29's that they bought back in '94-'95ish when Moldavia decided to sell them on the open market.

..........And I always thought there were little green men "up range" in Nevada.