Some interesting photographs which were made during the Joint US Navy/Army exercise "Chili Flag 90" in March 1990. Some great examples of pre GWOT Special Forces kit and equipment here. "Chili Flag 90`" was held near Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, home of the 1550th Aircrew Training and Test Wing. It was this unit which not only organized this exercise, but also provided most of the transport capabilities with their helicopters. Core element of "Chili Flag" were topics like in and exfiltration of highly specialized teams of the US Navy Seals in a mainly maritime envoirement. (In the case of this exercise, the Elephant Butte Reservoir, South of Albuquerque New Mexico).
The 1550th was a very "young" unit. Activated in 1971, it was the result of experiences made in South East Asia regarding Combat Search and Rescue Operations in a highly hostile envoirement. The 1550th should be used as main training unit for future search and rescue Operations in such envoirements. Their syllabus included later also Operations with Special Forces units of the US Army and Navy. In and exfiltration, covered penetration into enemy airspace etc. Their fleet of aircraft included HH-3E, CH-3E, MH-53J and CH-53A helicopters plus several HC-130H and HC-130E aircraft. Some of them are also visible on the photos, like the MH-53J and the CH-3E which is seen on one of the photos swimming on the Elephant Butte Reservoir. Interesting to see as this version was fully amphibious. The MH-53J Pave Low III was at that time the most powerful and capable transport helicopter in US service. Fully packed with at that time state of the art electronics and avionics like terrain following radar or FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared sensors) it was the perfect choice for clandestine Operations deep behind enemy lines.
Interesting to see that the Navy Seals used at that time still the good ol` M14 rifle. It is in general interesting to compare this pre GWOT Special Forces kit with this which came during the early 2000s.
Special Forces units like the US Navy Seals should become a decade later to key elements in a completely new kind of war. This one against global terrorism, which included small Operations, conducted by highly trained small units like the Seals or Deltas. But in 1990 such scenarios were far away. The Communist system in Eastern Europe was already history at that time, but the USSR was still in place and the enemy number one.
