Tyndall Air Force Base hosts Canadian military for months-long weapons exercise

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Down the Panhandle at Tyndall Air Force Base, one of the largest exercises in the Department of Defense took place with fighter squadrons from across the Panhandle, the country and around the world.

Countries like Singapore and Canada sent their best to the Panhandle to train with the United States Air Force.

This is all happening while political tensions between Canada and the United States are on the rise, and the Air Force is actively trying to rebuild from a hurricane that struck seven years ago.

It's considered the largest military rebuilding contract in Air Force history.

The military is working around the clock to rebuild Tyndall Air Force Base after Hurricane Michael leveled a majority of the buildings on base in 2018.

It took almost a year after the hurricane for the base to get back on its feet, but construction on hangars, buildings, and roads continues to this day.

The construction doesn't stop the base's commitment to training and increasing lethality.

The Air Force hosted squadrons for the Royal Canadian Air Force and the Singapore Air Force for weeks of live firing exercises out over the Gulf.

"WSEP is the Weapons System Evaluation Program," Lieutenant CDR 83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron, F-18 program manager Nick Bernard said. " It's an essential part of ensuring our combat weapons systems operate as advertised."

None of the personnel wished to comment on the ongoing political feud between America and Canada, but said it had no impact on training.

"It's a great experience to work alongside the Americans and share our experiences to learn their best practices and share our best practices with them," Royal Canadian Air Captain Joshua Taylor said. "Just to be able to further our integration together. If we do have to go out the door together, we're ready to integrate on day one."

Captain Joshua Taylor is one of the 26 Canadian pilots who have come to Tyndall for training.

His squadron is from Bagotville, which is about a hundred miles north of Quebec.

Like most aviators, Taylor's passion for aviation began at a young age.

"I realized I didn’t want to sit at a desk, so I was thinking what could I do that's engineering related and gets me outside doing cool things," Captain Taylor said. " Flying a fighter jet is one of the coolest things you can do outside of the office."

He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force, and now, nearly 12 years later, he's flying some of the most capable aircraft on the planet.

"The goal of this exercise is to come out and get proficiency in air-to-air weapons employment," Captain Taylor said. " We came to Tyndall specifically to WSEP to be able to shoot the air-to-air missiles."

For many of these aviators, the exercise at Tyndall will serve as the first time they fire a live weapon at a target.

"In today's environment, due to fiscal constraints it is much more common for a first-time shooter to be doing it in combat than it is out on our range," Lieutenant Bernard said.

These exercises at Tyndall are meant to expose pilots and maintenance crews to live weapons so that if called upon, they can handle and use them comfortably in combat.

"It’s very important to get that type of experience prior to combat," Captain Taylor said. " I've been flying the Hornet for 6 years now, and this is the first time I’ve employed any air-to-air weapons. Gaining that experience is invaluable."

"Heading out on the range, squeezing that trigger and seeing a missile fly off the jet in a non-combat situation will make you much more survivable and lethal if the flag ever goes up," Lieutenant Bernard said.

Each country is hoping that day never comes, but said the training at Tyndall will make them ready to work together if it does.

Next month, Tyndall is set to hold a similar exercise, except on a larger scale.

Eight squadrons with hundreds more maintenance personnel from all over the Air Force and the world.