“Cessna aircraft, you have been intercepted by a United States armed fighter.” 

Two Wisconsin Wing aircraft heard that call as F-16 jets pulled up on their left side during the Fertile Spade Exercise held Tuesday, July 7.  The CAP Cessna 172s simulated stolen aircraft while Madison-based fighters from the 115th Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard scrambled to intercept them.

F-16 fighter from the 115th Fighter Wing  intercepting CAP Flight 4832 (Photo by 1 Lt Terese Barta).

While all intercept practice missions are important, this one had particular significance since it was a no-notice exercise.  Fighters did not realize this was not a real event until right before take-off.  They were also evaluated during the exercise on parameters such as timely scramble, intercept, identification, and escort procedures.

While it may seem a relatively simple task, it requites a high degree of precision for a fighter pilot to locate and slow up to the speed of a small single engine aircraft, even in a known block of airspace.

The goal of intercept exercises is to emulate real-world scenarios as accurately as possible.  This includes the target aircraft ignoring repeated attempts of the fighter to contact them through visual and radio signals.

The importance of these intercept exercises was realized in April when a flight student Yavuz Berke stole a Cessna 172 aircraft from Thunder Bay, Canada, and crossed into U.S. airspace.  Fighters assigned to 115th Fighter Wing were called upon to intercept that plane.

Safety has the highest priority.  CAP aircraft are required to maintain basic VFR minimums and remain under air traffic control.  Intercept aircraft fly no closer than required to insure the pilot of the intercepted aircraft can see the required visual signals.

Fertile Spade exercises are sponsored by the Northeast Air Defense Sector (NEADS).  They are used to test track detection, identification, and intercept procedures. They are often used to prepare a unit for a NORAD Alert Force Evaluation. 

Participating as targets in the July 7 exercise were CAP flights 4836 (La Crosse) and 4832 (Stevens Point).  This was also the first mission for the Door county Senior Squadron's C182Q, which served as the high bird aircraft.

The Wisconsin Wing provides targets for intercept missions about once per month.  In addition to providing valuable training for the Air National Guard, these exercises also give our aircraft an estimated 130-150 hours of flight time per year, according to CAP Incident Commander Lt Col Jowett. The exercise held this week also provided an opportunity to troubleshoot any possible communication problems with the newly assigned CAP radio channel frequencies.

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