67th FS heads to Malaysia for bilateral exercise

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jason Lake
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Nearly 100 Airmen from the 67th Fighter Squadron are heading to Malaysia to participate in a joint exercise with the Royal Malaysian Air Force next week. 

Eight of the squadron's F-15 Eagles will represent the U.S. Air Force during Cope Taufan at Butterworth Air Force Base, Malaysia, Nov. 9-20. Cope Taufan is a live-fly exercise that involves dissimilar basic fighter maneuver training and dissimilar air combat tactics training with the Royal Malaysian Air Force's fourth generation fighters - the F/A-18D Hornet and MiG-29 Fulcrum. 

Lt. Col. Rob Novotny, 67th FS commander, said the Airmen from his unit look forward to building relationships with their Malaysian counterparts as they practice everything from visual maneuvers to large force employment. 

"Bilateral training is nothing new to this squadron," explained Colonel Novotny. "We've trained with the Greece, Australia, Japan, Thailand, South Korea, Spain...there's very few we haven't had a chance to work with."

According to Pacific Air Forces officials, the exercise allows for an exchange of techniques and procedures to enhance interoperability and cooperation between U.S. and Malaysian Airmen. It also provides training for participating aircrew and maintenance personnel. 

"This is a great opportunity - training against another fourth generation fighter aircraft," explained Capt. Brett Vanderpass, 67th FS pilot who plans to fly wingman during the exercise. "The fact that we get to train against the MiG-29 is pretty awesome."

Pacific Air Forces has conducted exercises with the Royal Malaysian Air Force since the early 1980s. Although the 67th FS participated in Cope Taufan in 2006, Colonel Novotny said this will be the first exchange between the Malaysians and his current team.
"We'll be training with and against the Malaysians," he said. "It's a give and take relationship and we're excited to do it."