Not just pilots. Exchanges exist across the military, in all branches, and with all sort of qualifications. In large part they exist to widen our training base. If you always train with the same people, using the same sort of equipment, you’ll actually have a narrow training focus. For instance, if you always dogfight F18s, you’ll know their foibles, but it may not be much use against another type of aircraft. And, for exchanges with the USA, they have dramatically larger range of equipment that we’d ever normally have access to, so even a few people learning about that can filter back to our overall operation. Only the best ever get sent, so it also acts as both a goal and a reward.
My small part of the navy had a much bigger experience base than just our A-4s. We had multiple people who had flown the A-7, and Harriers in both AV8A and Sea Harrier form. Whilst there was never any chance of us seeing A-7s, the technology of the A-7E also existed within the AV8B, so they would have provided a core of people to introduce the new type if it had happened.
Over in the RAAF, they‘ve had a least one pilot exchange on the F22, and would presumably have some on the F35. Friends of mine have had exchanges on the F15 and F16, and the UK’s Tornado and Lightning. And there was even an exchange between the RAAF and the RAN, where one of our pilots went to the Mirage, whilst one of theirs flew the A-4.
And I just remembered another small example. An RAAF pilot was posted to the Empire Test Pilots’ course, and the RAAF sent him around their bases to have a fly of as many aircraft as possible. They asked for some A-4 time. As we didn’t actually have many hours for our own pilots, the response was that yes, he could have 10, as long as one of our people got the same in the Mirage. And so one of the young blokes went off to Williamtown and made some very fast holes in the sky.