Kunsan Airmen Paint First Arctic F-16 for Eielson Air Force Base

By Staff Sgt. Alice Moore

Staff Sgt. Cory Goines thumbs through a technical order manual for finishing instructions while Senior Airmen Kevin Stevens and Matt Wuensch take care of the final details on a newly painted arctic scheme for an F-16 aircraft at Kunsan Air Base on November 30, 2007. Sgt. Goines and Airmen Stevens and Wuensch are aircraft structural maintenance journeymen with the 8th Maintenance Squadron. The 8th MXS painted the aircraft in preparation for an upcoming Eielson/Kunsan F-16 swap. The aircraft is the first unit to have an arctic scheme. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Quinton T. Burris.

KUNSAN AIR BASE, South Korea—Airmen from the 8th Maintenance Squadron corrosion shop recently finished painting the first U.S. Air Force F-16 aircraft with an arctic scheme.

The white, black, and gray aircrafts will be used as aggressor planes assigned to Eielson Air Force Base (AFB), Alaska, for training exercises that will be conducted at Red Flag-Alaska. This is the first time an arctic scheme has been used.

Currently the Air Force has three aggressor squadrons whose mission is to replicate potential adversary aircraft in order to provide training for U.S. and coalition combat air forces, said Col. Eddie Osteen, deputy commander of the 354th Operations Group. There are three different paint schemes applied to Eielson's aggressors to be used during throughout the year.

"The aggressor paint scheme is used to help ‘friendly’ aircraft visually differentiate the ‘enemy’ aircraft from other friendly F-16s," Col. Osteen said. "This is critical to prevent fratricide when blue and red forces merge into a visual fight."

The Pacific Alaska Range Complex is the training area for Red Flag-Alaska and consists of mountains, wooded hills, and tundra, Col. Osteen said. The colors there range from green to brown in the summer and white when the snow hits the ground during winter. The colors do not represent any specific type of aircraft or country.

"The colors are merely a way to quickly identify the aggressor aircraft when they are within visual range," he added. "The variety of paint schemes will make it more challenging to visually acquire the aggressor aircraft depending on the background, be it sky or earth."

Tech. Sgt. Brian Coffel, 8th Maintenance Squadron, looks over a newly painted arctic scheme F-16 aircraft on November 30, 2007. Sgt. Coffel and other members of the 8th Maintenance Squadron painted the aircraft in preparation for an upcoming Eielson/Kunsan F-16 swap. U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Quinton T. Burris.

In October, Kunsan Air Base received its initial group of Block 40 F-16 aircraft under the Common Configuration Implementation Program from Eielson AFB. In return, Eielson would be getting Kunsan's Block 30 F-16s to use as aggressor aircraft for its training exercises. To help assist Eielson AFB with this swap, airmen from the 8th Maintenance Squadron corrosion shop accepted the task of painting two F-16 planes with an arctic scheme.

"When the initial request to paint this jet at our facility came in from the Pacific Air Force Command, we immediately accepted the challenge," said Maj. David Seitz, the squadron’s maintenance operations officer. "All we needed was paint and technical data. The data sent to us was one piece of paper with a five-inch, three-sided schematic. Our professional maintainers were able to translate that small drawing into an actual F-16."

Maj. Seitz said the maintainers researched existing technical orders to find the best method for applying multiple colors and the two-colored stencils required to produce the finished product. "This required round-the-clock paint crews from start to finish, as the colors must be applied while the previous color is still wet," Major Seitz said.

The job entailed sanding the old paint off the aircraft, putting on primer, which is a coat that helps the paint hold better, and applying the new paint scheme colors, said Senior Airman Kevin Stevens, the squadron’s aircraft structural maintenance journeyman.

"This was a good learning experience," he said. "We were able to work with colors and paint we've never worked with. I was happy with the end result."

Currently, most of Eielson AFB’s new fleet of aircraft is being repainted as aircraft undergo Falcon Star structural modifications in South Korea, which will extend the service life of the F-16s, but the efforts of Kunsan airmen have ensured that Eielson receives enough aggressor-painted aircraft available to meet the base's needs, said Lt. Col. Mark Murphy, deputy commander of the 354th Maintenance Group.

Senior Airman Matthew Wuensch of the 8th Maintenance Squadron fabrication flight checks the stencil alignment for the finishing touches on an F-16 Fighting Falcon. U.S. Air Force photo by Chief Master Sgt. William McElligot.

"Kunsan's contributions have been critical to our ability to prepare for the 2008 Red Flag-Alaska schedule," Lt. Col. Murphy added. "Thanks to Kunsan's generous assistance, Eielson should have 14 aggressor-painted aircraft available to meet April's Red Flag schedule, which wouldn't have been possible otherwise."

Maj. Seitz said the work put in by the corrosion shop resulted in a great product. "Our experts overcame several challenges to produce a truly unique F-16 that will test aircrews participating in Red Flag-Alaska for decades to come," he said. I'm truly proud to serve with these 'make it happen' airmen."

The corrosion shop is currently working on the third arctic scheme F-16 that will be used in Red Flag-Alaska 2008.

Editor’s Note: Staff Sgt. Alice Moore of 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs originally wrote this article for the Air Force Web site www.af.mil. It is reprinted here.

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