PATRIOT Tuna exercise provides valuable training Published July 8, 2006 By Staff Sgt. Stephen Razo 944th Fighter Wing Public Affairs LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- Sometimes playing war in the skies can become so routine you resort to changing venues. Such was the case with the 302nd Fighter Squadron. More than 100 944th Fighter Wing personnel deployed to Key West Naval Air Station, Fla., in June for a two-week deployment called PATRIOT Tuna. "We fight the F-5 Marine Corps unit out of Yuma on a routine basis over the desert, so we decided to change the playing field and do our fighting over the key water in Key West," said Col. Thomas Harwood, 944th FW vice commander. Although the two units have met before over the skies of Key West, PATRIOT Tuna brought out the wartime intangibles that can mean success or failure. "Unfamiliar skies, unfamiliar territory, and unfamiliar operating location forces us to think about how we are setting things up and what we are doing," Colonel Harwood said. "There are some of us who have been around long enough to know every rock and every cactus out on the (Barry Goldwater) range so over-water training presents a very different kind of air-to-air training."According to Colonel Harwood, PATRIOT Tuna was able to replace familiar elements with plenty of unfamiliar elements. Consequently, pilots were forced to "use" the aircraft, work the systems and work out different issues associated with the aircraft. "This only makes us a stronger combat capable unit," he said.