NATO QRA to Red Arrows Display
Flight Lieutenant Gregor Ogston, 32, is Red 4 in the 2019 Red Arrows Display Team. He flew the RAF’s Typhoon jet in NATO Baltic Air Policing missions in Lithuania in 2014.
I was part of the first deployment of Typhoon in support of Baltic Air Policing — I was serving on 3 Squadron at RAF Coningsby at the time and was lucky enough to fly the very first Typhoon into Lithuania.
Our mission while we were out there was securing the skies over the Baltic region in partnership with a deployment of Polish MK29 Aircraft. We had already trained with them in Poland about 4 months previously so when we landed in Lithuania we met friendly faces from another NATO partner.
We were effectively doing the same missions we fly in the UK. We were standing by in Quick Reaction Alert (QRA), ready to scramble and intercept any unknown aircraft entering the airspace we were there to protect.
I’ve been launched on QRA in the UK and in Lithuania on a real scramble and I’d say the adrenaline rush on both of those was more than I have had flying with the Red Arrows.
I think that’s to do with the unknown; when you get that call to run to the cockpit, the adrenaline starts going. All the engineers are rushing toward the aircraft, you strap in and start the engines not knowing what you’re about to launch for.
It could be anything from a light aircraft that needs a bit of assistance to an airliner that’s not talking to air traffic control or it could be a military aircraft that shouldn’t be there and everything in between and you don’t really know what to expect from that.
And I think that for me, that’s why the adrenaline is really going because you don’t know what is happening or what you’re going to be dealing with for the next few hours.
In addition to working in Lithuania, I also did an operational deployment as part of NATO to a Combined Air Operations Centre in 2011.
When you first arrive it’s very much like turning up to an RAF Headquarters and working with RAF engineers or RAF pilots. Everyone is trained to a very similar standard.
We constantly train in exercises both in the UK and overseas so everyone is speaking the same language (even though that might not be their actual language!). We are all on the same page from day one, that makes our job easier because everyone knows what they’re trying to achieve.
With the Reds, the times I’ve felt the most adrenaline was in the early displays.
It’s my first season on the team and with potentially thousands of people watching that certainly focuses the mind. There’s a huge amount of personal pressure. You don’t want to let the team down and you want to put on a good show.
That’s the big difference. The unknown of the QRA scramble versus the well-rehearsed display that we do day-to-day with the Red Arrows.
The Red Arrows are currently touring North America. It is the first time the Red Arrows have been to North America since 2008 and the deployment will be the most ambitious tour of Canada and the United States ever undertaken by the team — going coast-to-coast.
With stops across the continent, the tour comprises a combination of nearly 20 aerobatic displays, several iconic flypasts, and 100 separate ground engagement activities — from business receptions to sessions aimed at inspiring young people.
Find out more here: https://www.raf.mod.uk/display-teams/red-arrows/us-canada/
