When the second Tiger Meet Of The Americas opened on 13 September, 22 visiting aircraft and almost 300 visiting military personnel were in attendance. The largest contingent by far was from the 120th Fighter Squadron which sent eight F-16C and 180 people while the smallest one was from 439 Sqdn of 3 Wing Bagotville. 439 Sqdn was represented by Major Joel Roy, commanding officer., and CplC. Rejean Martel, Sartech, who showed the best Tiger's spirit! For 439 Sqdn, attending the meet was an opportunity to renew with its traditions. Since the closure of CFB Baden-Solleingen, Germany, in 1993 it was the first squadron's participation in a Tiger Meet. "It was a pleasure to notice that the same spirit of camaraderie and professionalism lives on in the Tiger's community on this side of the Atlantic." said Major Roy, a former CF-18 pilot, who attended many NATO Tiger Meets while assigned in the Canadian Forces in Europe. 439 Sqdn operates the CH-146 Griffon (Bell 412) in the Search and Rescue (SAR) and Combat Support (CS) role. Due to logistics constraints, 439 Sqdn could not fly its own helicopter to Cold Lake and simply borrowed one from Cold Lake's resident 417 Sqdn. Showing the Tiger's spirit was quite important for 439 Sqdn and no details were left. Tiger markings were rapidly applied on the helicopter and stripes were added on the yellow rental car driven by the 439's members.

The 141st Air Refueling Squadron from the New Jersey Air National Guard sent one KC-135E to support air refueling operations during the meet. While most squadrons were able to send only a few aircraft and personnel, 141st ARS's personnel were selected for their Tiger's spirit! MSgt. Otto "The Pigman" Petersen, boom operator from the 141st ARS, explained: "The people we bring in a Tiger Meet are the ones who have proven throughout the year they are above and beyond. To come here is an incentive for them! We are kind of like a father figure for this event. Our squadron has always been the Tigers! We take a lot of pride in bringing the spirit of the tiger to these things, since we have all the heritage."

Several participating squadrons were official members of the NATO Tigers Association but to bolster the number of participants, the meet was opened to any North American-based units with a big cat in their name or insignia. Hence, the attendees included 410 Sqdn "Cougars", 416 Sqdn "Lynx", 120th FS/CO ANG with a Cougar and the 134th FS/VT ANG with a Catamount ( an eastern species of mountain lion). Although not a "cat" squadron, the third CF-18 squadron based at CFB Cold Lake, 441"Silver Fox" Squadron was invited to participate. "Real" Tiger units in attendance included the USAF's 79th FS "Tigers" from Shaw AFB, South Carolina with F-16CJ, the 391st FS "Bold Tigers" from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho with F-15E and the 141st ARS "Tigers" from McGuire AFB, N.J. with a KC-135E. Canada's only official Tiger squadron, 439 Squadron from 3 Wing Bagotville also attended. A NATO E-3 AWACS and its multinational crew flew in from Germany to attend the meet. An Open House was held on the first day of the meet for the local community. Each squadron provided an aircraft for the display and the tiger's spirit could be seen everywhere. Some crews wore Tiger scarves, Tiger mask, and even Tiger-striped flightsuits. The Colorado ANG even brought with them an old Buick Bonneville painted like their flagship F-16 and a tiger-striped ATV! The Open House was followed by an all-ranks pig-roast dinner, courtesy of the 141st ARS of the New Jersey ANG.

The week began with three days of Large Force Employment (LFE) missions. All participating units were scheduled to fly in each missions, with the visiting units and 410 Sqdn forming the Blue Force. Due to the number of squadrons participating, a good range of aircraft types and capabilities were represented. Each mission included offensive counter-air strikes and special forces support packages, with air-to-air refueling and AWAC support. Participating units were able to select their role in the Blue Force to fulfill individual training requirements. Opposing "Red Air" consisted of 416 and 441 Sqdns plus two civilian-flown and operated Hawker Hunters. LFE missions were based on offensive air war scenarios taken from the annual Maple Flag exercises held at CFB Cold lake. The missions used the resources of 4 Wing's Air Force Tactical Training Center, including the Air Weapons Range and Air Combat Maneuvering Instrumentation System. Each day's mission was executed like a Maple Flag or Red Flag mission, an Air Tasking Order was issued describing the scenario and a mass intelligence briefing was held in the morning to present it to the aircrews. Working together, participants chose tactics to use, developed a mission plan and execution. After each mission flown, a lengthy debrief followed to determine the effectiveness of the plan and identify lessons learned.