Description
The wingman's role is to add an element of mutual support to aerial combat. The presence of a wingman makes the flight both offensively and defensively more capable by increasing firepower and situational awareness, permits the attacking of enemies, and increases the ability to employ more dynamic tactics.
Colonel Robert Smith provides an extensive description of the work and role of wingmen during the Korean War. Among the wingman's primary responsibilities are remaining close to the leader of the aerial formation and warning the leader of any immediate threats at the cost of losing mutual protection. Smith describes the responsibilities as mutually exclusive; never losing the leader required attention in front of the wingman, but warning the lead of any aircraft threats meant focusing on the rear. Wingmen needed to protect and react constantly according to his surroundings and movements. Smith describes the difficulties of flying under poor visibility and the trying effects on human perception under such conditions, especially considering the danger of being separated from the leader of the formation. According to Smith, wingmen are expected to remain with the leader, even at the cost of scoring an easy kill.
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“The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St. Paul’s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)
“The next Augustan age will dawn on the other side of the Atlantic. There will, perhaps, be a Thucydides at Boston, a Xenophon at New York, and, in time, a Virgil at Mexico, and a Newton at Peru. At last, some curious traveller from Lima will visit England and give a description of the ruins of St Paul’s, like the editions of Balbec and Palmyra.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)