Although the origin of Tiger Meet is a bit fuzzy, it appears to have started with the 79th and No 74 squadron RAF getting together for some whiskey and cheer in 1960. In 1961 the meeting was continued, with the addition of the French EC 1/12, and so the NATO Tiger Association was born. In 1962 then Lt Mike Dugan volunteered as project officer. Lt Dugan, never one to let authority corrupt fighter pilot activities, decided it should be a true “NATO Tiger Day“. He therefore sent letters directly to all the tigers for which he found an address. A number of units immediately accepted but returned their reply “through channels “. This of course resulted in all the HQs (USAFE, 3rd AF, and the 20th Wing) descending on the 79th with “requests” as to what the hell we thought we were doing. Mike’s program won the Wing Commander’s support and they, in turn convinced Head Quarters that NATO Tigers was possible. About this same time a London paper headlined an article, “IRON CROSSES OVER SUFFOLK” or something close. I then got a call from an RAF friend at Fighter Command.
It was a “friendly consultation” about “Yank” ignorance. It seems that at that time no German military aircraft were allowed near the UK. He had just spent the day un-ruffling the feathers of the Prime Minister’s press office. He’d indicated to the PR boys that both the RAF and other NATO forces were involved and a refusal of the German forces would be difficult. The result was a limited and somewhat miffed consent. USAFE also approved with file usual admonition that nothing bad better happen. After such a bumpy start, Mike’s planning and drive got everything on track and with the help of a world of people it became a success. A couple of other events colored that gathering. We had a motley assortment of tiger emblems, but the spirit was there. The French brought a large transport loaded with ammo boxes for the various competitions. When opened, most of the boxes contained champagne! The Biggin Hill 'Tiger Moth Club” almost invited themselves. This turned out to be a lucky move, since weather on the flyby day was about 400 ft. in heavy rain. Not to be discouraged -the Moths took off in flights of three and four to do flybys and low level acrobatics. A weird day.

The 53rd edition of the renowned NATO Tiger Meet was held on the French naval base of Landivisiau in Bretagne between June 05 and 16. This well-known event gathering the squadrons wearing a tiger as an emblem, were guest for the second time in ten years, at the home base of the Flottille 11F of the Marine Nationale. Jointly with this big scale exercise, the base of Landivisiau also celebrated its half-century of existence. Besides the 'Tiger' folklore, the purpose of this generally highly coloured gathering, is training pilots of various nationalities during complex exercises, much needed to establish cooperation and interoperability between the nations. During those two weeks, more than 800 exercises and 1.200 hours were flown and to achieve these results some 800 pilots and technicians were needed to accomplish the very complex tactical missions.

Participants
French Navy Flotille 11F BAN Landivisiau Rafale M 
Swiss Air Force Staffel 11 Meiringen AB F/A-18C/D Hornet
Austrian Air Force 1 JTS Vogler AB Saab 105Öe
Italian Air Force XII Gruppo Gioia del Colle EF2000 Typhoon
Italian Air Force 21° Gruppo Grazzanise AB-212ICO
French Air Force ECE 01/30 (FAF) BA118 Mont-de-Marsan Rafale C/B
French Air Force EC 3/30 (FAF) BA118 Mont-de-Marsan Rafale C/B
Belgian Air Force 31 Squadron Kleine Brogel AB F-16AM/BM 
Czech Air Force 211 TL Cáslav AB JAS-39C/D Gripen
Dutch Air Force 313 Squadron Volkel AB F-16AM/BM 
Royal Air Force 230 Squadron RAF Benson Puma HC Mk2
Royal Navy 814 Squadron NAS Culdrose Merlin HM. MK2
French Army EHRA 3 BA d'Étain-Rouvres SA 342 M Gazelle 
NATO 1st Squadron Geilenkirchen AB E-3A Sentry (1x) (Flying from MOB)

 Although the 2006 Tiger Meet was initially planned to be held at Ørland in Norway, 338 Squadron of the Norwegian Air Force had to postpone these plans to this year. The Tiger Meet in 2006 took place at Albacete in Spain instead, which made me interested in this more than special meeting and the goals and history behind it. Additionally the meeting also attracts aircraft covered in the most remarkable paint schemes and tiger coats, so again therefore reason enough for me to travel up North to the beautiful Norway.  This years NATO Tiger Meet (NTM) was named appropriately the "Arctic Tiger Meet", as the meeting was hosted at the cold Ørland MAS in the middle of Norway. The base is situated almost at the edge of Europe, and is one of the few NATO bases that can enjoy the spectacle of the breathtaking Polar light and is surrounded by the ocean and the beautiful mountainous countryside. For the first time in history Ørland MAS was the host of the NATO Tiger Meet, offering several very unique assets for all the parcticipants. First of all is the weather in the area not the most reliable, a fact which had become evident once again during exercise "Bold Avenger" one week before the Tiger Meet. Wind directions were all over the place, hail and rain were a constant factor and a low cloud base was grounding a lot of missions. The airspace available for the exercises to the north is twice the size of Denmark, and the airspace to the south equals the size of Belgium. These two factors give parcticipants a unique opportunity to practice flying in adverse weather and in mountainous terrain in a vast area. The main operational NTM07-specific missions is full integration of helicopter, transport and fighters in a high threat environment while conducting MEDEVAC and CSAR. And as on a typical Tiger Meet flying program you will find missions like: OCA, DCA, SEAD, CSAR, Recce, Refuelling, COMAO, and so on..