The 2001 edition of Frisian Flag took place from 15 till 26 October 2001. Leeuwarden Air Base, in the north of the Netherlands, hosted the exercise. Goal of the exercise is to train combined operations by multinational partners. Before the Frisian Flag initiative, this was done during the DIAWACS and DIATIT exercises, organized by 323 Squadron “Diana”. The exercise carries the name Frisian Flag since 1999 and gives more recognition to the importance of the size of the exercise, that can be compared to other large-scale exercises like Red Flag and Green Flag.

Mission sets
The multinational exercise has as main goal to train multirole combined operations. Leeuwarden AB is close to the Vliehors range and other exercise areas. So not much flying time is lost to get to the airspace where the training takes place. This doesn’t mean, that there is no air refueling practicing. Air refueling is also an important part of Frisian Flag. Other trained mission sets are defensive and offensive air missions, protection of friendly aircraft and Close Air Support. Two missions a day are planned. The missions include planning, briefing, flying, and debriefing. This format gives the opportunity “To train as you fight”. All participants are very satisfied with the opportunities Frisian Flag offers. It is a very realistic exercise that improves leadership and prepares pilots for cooperating during large-scale conflicts in an international context.

The 2001 participants
First of course there is the Netherlands Air Force with F-16s: F-16A/B-type from 323 Squadron. The east neighbors of the German Air Force send their mighty F-4F from JG-71 out of Wittmund AB. Norway was also present with the F-16A/B. These Vipers came from 334 sq based at Bodø AB, far above the polar circle in the north of Norway. The unit operated the block 15 updated MLU version. Only two years later the squadron was disbanded. The Norwegian Air Force also send a Falcon 20 Electronic Counter Measure aircraft of 717 Skvadron. This unit is based at Rygge AB. The Armeé de l’air came with the Mirage 2000N from EC 2/4 from Base Aérienne 116 Luxeuil, France. And to complete the field of participants, the Finnish Air Force was present with F/A-18A Hornets of HävLLv 21 based at Tampere. Pilots of the other Finnish F/A-18 squadrons were also present and flew missions in the 9 (!) HävLLv 21 F/A-18s during Frisian Flag 2001.