Schleswig-Jägel hosts its first ever Tiger Meet


From 30 August till 6 September 2004, the 40th Tiger Meet was held at Schleswig-Jägel Air Base in the upper northern part of Germany, close to the Danish border. It was the first ever Tiger Meet at Schleswig-Jägel. The hosting unit was the 51st Recce Wing “AG 51 Immelman”. The unit itself was one of the participants with its Panavia Tornados.

The creation and maintenance of team-spirit and camaraderie between the participating members has been one of the major goals since the first Tiger Meet in 1962. The exchange of experiences between aircrews makes the Tiger Meet one of the most important yearly exercises. During the Meet two missions were flown daily. In this edition, a KC-135E from the 141st Air Refueling Squadron, based at McGuire AFB, New Jersey, participated. This was the first time for the 141st to be at the Tiger Meet. For this occasion, the unit painted an enormous tiger on this KC-135. The mission on Friday 3 September 2004 is caught in this report.

Participants
German Air Force, AG-51 with 5 Tornados;
German Air Force, JaBoG 32 with 4 Tornados;
French Air Force, EC 1/12 with 4 Mirage 2000s;
French Air Force, EC 5/330 with 2 Mirage 2000s;
Belgian Air Force, 31 Sq. with 4 F-16s;
Turkish Air Force, 192 Filo with 2 F-16s;
Swiss Air Force, Staffel 11 with 5 F-18s;
Spanish Air Force, 142 Esc. with 4 Mirage F1s;
Czech Air Force, 331 LtBVr with 4 Mi-24s;
USAF, 141 ARS with 1 KC-135E;
NATO with 1 E-3A