"Time flies when you're having fun."
Hard to believe that today marks the 1 Year Anniversary since the official start of the Virtual 303 Fighter Group. Based on feedback from our members we have kept the focus on making connections between each other, not just a name on discord or the forums but people we actually consider friends. Some of us have met in person, others we will soon, and a handful of us have been flying DCS together for over 10 years. In addition to that we have kept the "milsim lite" focus strong implementing our group manuals and developed, reworked, and updated our training programs. Like all virtual organizations we have had our share of people lose interest and depart, we wish them all the best and hope they find a virtual home that meets what they need to enjoy the hobby.
Myself and the rest of Command want to thank our current members, your dedication to flying, input on how we need to steer the group, and the sense of ownership you have all showed is what makes the v303 FG special. We want everyone to feel a vested interest in the v303 FG so please keep the suggestions coming!
Myself and the rest of Command want to thank our current members, your dedication to flying, input on how we need to steer the group, and the sense of ownership you have all showed is what makes the v303 FG special. We want everyone to feel a vested interest in the v303 FG so please keep the suggestions coming!
A few stats to look at for the past year:
- 18 Active members
- 10 v303 FS pilots (A-10C)
- 7 v93 FS pilots (F-16C) (with one member being fully qualified to fly the A-10C in combat ops as well)
- 2 v307 FS pilots (F-15E)
- 978.85 hours flown(853.05 daytime, 125.8 nighttime)
- 672.69 A-10C
- 290.86 F-16C
- 15.3 F-15E
- 498 sorties(388 training, 124 combat)
- 314 A-10C
- 173 F-16C
- 11 F-15E
Today (31 August )we are wrapping up our first combat deployment, Phase 1 of Operation Hedge of Protection. This phase of HoP was focused on counter insurgency operations in/around Beirut to include supporting the evacuation of the US Embassy, the Marine beach landing to take control of the Beirut International Airport, establishing a green zone around the Beirut International Airport, coordinated strikes on terrorist locations, and basic COIN operations searching the city for terrorist activity. As most in the community know mission building in DCS is not for the faint of heart, luckily we have a scripting wizard who has worked his magic to make every aspect of the mission random to allow replay-ability of this phase of HoP in the future. A huge thanks to
Grunt for making my ideas a reality!
Starting 1 September we transition back to Nellis focusing B-Course for our Students with the plan to start our next deployment spin up training in December. Our current plan is to open the doors for F-15E pilot recruitment 15 September 2023 and get the first batch of pilots Basic Mission Qualified prior to our next deployment. Our plan to recruit for WSOs has yet to be finalized, our thought is we need people who can fly the aircraft before we recruit for members that only have a desire to operate the back seat. During our training phase of operations we mix in a TDY to Andersen AFB, Guam so people do not get board flying all their training sorties out of Nellis. Last big item over the next few months is holding our first internal A-10 Hawgsmoke competition. This will lay the ground work to our internal Gunsmoke competition that will pit our A-10C, F-16C, and F-15E pilots against one another. We have also had internal discussions about eventually holding a community wide Gunsmoke event but that is a long ways away.
1 January 2024 we'll be deploying back to Jordan for Phase 2 of Operation Hedge of Production through the end of March. This phase we will be transitioning from COIN operations to full scale combat operations against Syrian and Russian forces. This will allow the Mako's (F-16C) pilots to conduct their primary mission of SEAD/DEAD, the KC Hawgs (A-10C) pilots to conduct CAS, and the Stingers (F-15E) execute pinpoint strikes of Syrian and Russian assets and infostructure.
Outside of that we will continue to develop and refine our training programs, manuals, in-flight guides, and other documentation within the group all while making sure we keep a good balance between realism and fun with the main objective to make being a member of the v303 FG satisfying for our members without making them feel like being a member here is a part time job. We are not Live Action Roll Playing pilots here, we are a group of friends trying to improve our skills and enjoy ourselves. So cheers to our first year and lets hit the ground running for year number two!!
Thanks again to our members
Wing
Stash
Coolhand
Reaper
REB
Papa Flare
Grunt
Gloves
Ski
Koop
Nomad
ChickenHawk and
Flyspud without you all we wouldn't have accomplished what we have the first year. To our new members
Faelwolf
EnderSiege
S
shadow and
Snappy we look forward to getting to know each of you, please don't hesitate to provide suggestions on how we can improve.
Lastly we want to send well wishes to one of our founding members,
Emmy who has been on an extended leave of absence for personal reasons. We miss you my friend and will keep your jet airworthy for when you return!!
Grunt for making my ideas a reality!Starting 1 September we transition back to Nellis focusing B-Course for our Students with the plan to start our next deployment spin up training in December. Our current plan is to open the doors for F-15E pilot recruitment 15 September 2023 and get the first batch of pilots Basic Mission Qualified prior to our next deployment. Our plan to recruit for WSOs has yet to be finalized, our thought is we need people who can fly the aircraft before we recruit for members that only have a desire to operate the back seat. During our training phase of operations we mix in a TDY to Andersen AFB, Guam so people do not get board flying all their training sorties out of Nellis. Last big item over the next few months is holding our first internal A-10 Hawgsmoke competition. This will lay the ground work to our internal Gunsmoke competition that will pit our A-10C, F-16C, and F-15E pilots against one another. We have also had internal discussions about eventually holding a community wide Gunsmoke event but that is a long ways away.
1 January 2024 we'll be deploying back to Jordan for Phase 2 of Operation Hedge of Production through the end of March. This phase we will be transitioning from COIN operations to full scale combat operations against Syrian and Russian forces. This will allow the Mako's (F-16C) pilots to conduct their primary mission of SEAD/DEAD, the KC Hawgs (A-10C) pilots to conduct CAS, and the Stingers (F-15E) execute pinpoint strikes of Syrian and Russian assets and infostructure.
Outside of that we will continue to develop and refine our training programs, manuals, in-flight guides, and other documentation within the group all while making sure we keep a good balance between realism and fun with the main objective to make being a member of the v303 FG satisfying for our members without making them feel like being a member here is a part time job. We are not Live Action Roll Playing pilots here, we are a group of friends trying to improve our skills and enjoy ourselves. So cheers to our first year and lets hit the ground running for year number two!!
Thanks again to our members
Wing
Stash
Coolhand
Reaper
REB
Papa Flare
Grunt
Gloves
Ski
Koop
Nomad
ChickenHawk and
Flyspud without you all we wouldn't have accomplished what we have the first year. To our new members
Faelwolf
EnderSiege
S
shadow and
Snappy we look forward to getting to know each of you, please don't hesitate to provide suggestions on how we can improve.Lastly we want to send well wishes to one of our founding members,
Emmy who has been on an extended leave of absence for personal reasons. We miss you my friend and will keep your jet airworthy for when you return!!
Snoopy
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