Jägerkommando 11 "Rald"

Emblem of Jägerkommando 11, also known as Jägerkommando Rald or the Rald Squadron

Jägerkommando 11, also known as "Rald Squadron", was a fighter squadron of the Belkan Luftwaffe established late in the Osean Continental War.  Technically, the full name was "Jägerkommando die Experten 11", as the entire line-up of pilots consisted of aces, all of which were required to have at least 15 victories to their credit, and needless to say, they were fierce opponents during the war, as anyone who had the misfortune of going up against them could attest.  Though known as the Rald Squadron, the callsign they used in combat was "White" followed by an assigned number, as with any other squadron of the Belkan Luftwaffe at the time.

History

The concept of "Jägerkommando" units wasn't anything new in Belka during the Osean Continental War, and indeed, ten of them had already been created, although all of these squadrons were, in reality, an early take on the "aggressor" squadron used to train their own pilots, by flying captured enemy aircraft in the same way that their enemies did to allow Belkan pilots  to become familiar with enemy equipment and tactics (though these squadrons ocassionally flew reconnaisance over enemy ground positions or near Allied bomber formations while wearing what resemble Allied markings).

However, this wasn't quite working, as the Oseans were simple fielding far too many aircraft to simply take them all down, and the bombing raids on Belka were doing a number to their industry.  This was used as a justification by  Belka's "General der Jägdflieger" (General of Fighter Pilots), Michael Rald to cease production of long-range "revenge bombers" that the high command was calling for and focus instead on the defense of their homeland with the new jet fighters, which had entered service as early as late 1942 but were available in pitifully small numbers due to reliability issues and the fact that much of Belka's production capacity was being put towards bombers.

Newer jets promised to alleviate these issues, but only if the High Command would listen to his calls to step up fighter production; unfortunately, he stepped on one too many toes with the High Command and was threatened with being relieved of his command, to which Rald countered by claiming that he could prove he was right if they were willing to give him the resources: enough new-model jets to form a new squadron and the ability to select whichever pilots he desired to staff it.  They relented, as Rald was popular enough with fighter pilots that just outright sacking him would have been a very poor decision in regards to morale amongst pilots.  On October 20th, 1944, Jägerkommando 11 "Rald" was formed.

Karl "White 6" Felsen's Me-262 HG IIIa c. late 1946-mid 1947. Drawing courtesy of Philip Castro Barcelos.

The squadron was hand-picked from the ranks of many different squadrons, and included aces such as Karl Felsen, Deitrich "Bear" Wald and even David Mitch, an Osean ex-patriot that had been serving Belka as a mercenary from the beginning of the war.  Their aircraft of choice throughout the war were variants of the Me-262, although they also flew other aircraft (most notably those of the Focke-Wulf Fw-190 series), primarily as defense of their airfield to allow the slow-accelerating jets to take off relatively safely.  In combat, their performance was exemplary,  with over a hundred and fifty confirmed victories for thirty losses, but it wasn't enough to stave off Belka's defeat.  In the end, they weren't defeated so much by Allied airpower as much as a shortage of fuel, which eventually led to them being captured in 1947.  They were officially disbanded upon Belka's surrender

Notable Members

• Michael Rald (White 1, father to the infamous politician, Waldimarr Rald)
• Deitrich "Bear" Wald (White 4, famous for his attitude and irreverence to his superiors, which strangely enough Rald admired)
• Karl Felsen (White 6, grandfather to the fighter ace Erik Felsen, and scored more victories flying a jet aircraft against other jets than any other pilot in the war)
• David Mitch (White 7, Osean mercenary)

Aircraft

Piston-Powered Aircraft

• Ju-52/3m (used as a transport for the squadron's pilots when relocating)
• Fw-190A
• Fw-190D
• Ta-152

Jet-Powered Aircraft

• Me-262A-1a/R1
• Me-262A-1a/U1
• Me-262A-1a/U4 (sole prototype)
• Me-262E-1
• Me-262E-2
• Me-262 HGIII
• Me-262 HGIIIa (the "a" denoting the aircraft being modified to carry X-4 guided AAMs)