An interesting article at the Air Force Times goes into more detail about a previously discussed “dream job” in the US Air Force: playing the bad guy.  Air Force pilots fly American fighters but train to replicate the threat of potential adversaries.  They then use those skills to “defend their homeland” during major exercises.

(Fighter units frequently use their own assets to simulate an air threat, a technique known as flying “red air.”  However, aggressor units specifically train to precisely replicate foreign tactics for large force scenarios.)

The article indicates, perhaps a little too matter-of-factly, that the US Air Force once had multiple squadrons of Russian-built fighters:

In the days that the U.S. considered the Soviet Union its biggest threat, four squadrons of airmen flew Russian-made MiG-21s or Su-27 fighters to lend authenticity to their job. Now, Toth’s squadrons fly Boeing’s F-16s and General Dynamics’ F-15s given special paint jobs and modified with sensors and radars to look like Russian, Chinese or North Korean fighters.

The US Air Force did declassify (in 2006) its use of Russian-built fighters in the early 1980s.  The article also misidentifies the manufacturers of the F-16 (once General Dynamics, now Lockheed) and F-15 (Boeing).

One of the more interesting aspects of the article is its revelation of the depth to which military fighter pilots assume their roles, even if its playing the villain.

Chinese flags and a portrait of Russia’s Lenin that adorn the 18th’s headquarters put the pilots in the enemy’s mindset. Even the squadron gym looks like the one Drago trained in before his fight against Rocky in “Rocky IV.”

The tendency of fighter pilots do jump in with both feet in every endeavor can sometimes be a great asset–and occasionally a liability, depending on the environment.  No one ever accused a fighter pilot of lacking passion–just occasionally judgment about when to restrain it.