Photorecon

WISCONSIN BASED AIRPOWER AT ITS FINEST

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Story and photos by Scott Jankowski

As I wrap up my coverage of AirVenture 2023, we are taking a look at one the more unique demos of modern military power and an Oshkosh “first.” On Friday and part of the afternoon airshow, the men and women of the Wisconsin Air and National Guard put a combined arms demo. This demo included rotary and fixed wing air assets and included eight Sikorsky UH-60A Blackhawks, a pair of Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II’s, and a Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker.

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This impressive demo started with a single F-35A from the 115th Fighter Wing, Madison WI, making its approach from behind the crowd line dropping simulated precision munitions. This was done in coordination with the Tora, Tora, Tora Bomb Group lighting off a “Wall of Fire.” This simulated destroying enemy defenses to allow several UH-60A Blackhawks from the Madison based 1st Battalion, 147th Aviation Regiment to deliver squads of infantry from the 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry as well as the 1st Battalion, 170th Field Artillery Regiment into the simulated Landing Zone.

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While 105mm howitzers fired simulated rounds, and the infantry troops worked at securing the Landing Zone, a pair of Medevac configured UH-60A Blackhawks entered the battlefield and demonstrated its hoist capabilities. These Blackhawks conducted a simulated live hoist of a litter-borne medical patient, which simulated battlefield casualties. This was occurring simultaneously with a pair of Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II’s the 115th Fighter Wing and a Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker the Milwaukee based 128th Air Refueling Wing flew overhead in a simulated air refueling configuration. This simulated air refueling allowed the F-35A’s to remain in the area to provide close air support and top cover for the troops on the ground. The F-35A’s would break away from the KC-135R to conduct simulated strafing and precision bombing of enemy troops in the area of the Landing Zone.

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The demo concluded with the UH-60A Blackhawks returning to pick up the ground troops while the F-35A Lightning II’s continued to fly top cover to support this operation. This demo was expertly narrated by Chief Warrant Officer 2 Matt Hipp who gave an expert narration of the demo, the equipment, units, and the history of the Wisconsin Air and National Guard units in the state.

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Over ten thousand soldiers and airmen make up the Wisconsin Air and National Guard, these men and women are our neighbors, colleagues, and members of the communities we live in. It is these men and women that made this flawless capabilities demo even more special as they are all from our home state of Wisconsin. This was definitely the highlight of the Friday airshow and for me the highlight of the entire week. Lieutenant Colonel Aaron Gulczynski, the Domestic Operations Director for the Wisconsin National Guard commented “The capabilities demo at EAA was a way to highlight the proficiency of our service members, the variety of units in the state, and the different missions we train for and support.” This flawless demo was executed with precision and truly showed the capabilities of our “citizen” soldiers and airmen. This wraps up my coverage of AirVenture 2023. Until next time, “Blue Skies To All!”

Scott Jankowski

Scott Jankowski - Franklin, Wisconsin Like so many others my love of aviation started when I was young, very young. I was only three years old when my Parents took me to my first air show here in Milwaukee, the rest you could say is “history”. I would read aviation magazines instead of Comic Books. I would prefer my Dad take me to the airport to watch airplanes instead of throwing a Football around. I grew up watching Convair 580’s, DC9’s and 727’s from the terminal here in Milwaukee, no Stage Three noise compliance back then! I started to seriously take pictures in the Mid 1980’s , for my birthday that year I finally had my first decent camera. I would head down to the airport with my pockets full of Kodak Film and take pictures of anything and everything. It did not matter if it was a Air Wisconsin Dash-7 or a 128TH ARW KC-135E if it had an engine I took a picture of it. I would drop those rolls off to be developed and three days later tear into the envelopes to see the results, which to be honest were not that good but there were a few keepers every once and a while. Fast forwarding to today with much better equipment and skills I spend as much time as I can at both General Mitchell International and Chicago O’Hare which are my Hometown Airports. While times and aircraft have changed the excitement is still as great as it was back all of those years ago. It makes no difference if it is 737, P-51, F-16, or Lear 35 I will not pass on any photo opportunity as you may not get that chance again. Even though my primary focus is on Commercial Aviation I still frequent as many Air shows as I can in the short Summer Season. I am fortunate enough to have EAA Air Venture in my backyard only being only an Hour and Half from my home. I routinely attend Air shows here in Milwaukee, Rockford, Chicago, Ypsilanti and the Quad Cities. I am very fortunate to be part of the Photorecon.Net and PHX Spotters Team and am looking forward to bringing everyone some Air show and Airliner action from the Midwest Region!

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