U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Jon Basar waits to give the signal to Capt. Brett McCann to launch his F-16 Fighting Falcon from Pope Air Force Base, N.C., on May 7, 1996, for a simulated combat mission during Combined Joint Task Force Exercise '96. More than 53,000 military service members from the United States and the United Kingdom are participating in Combined Joint Task Force Exercise '96 on military installations in the Southeastern United States and in waters along the Eastern seaboard. Basar and McCann are attached the 74th Fighter Squadron at Pope.