prpr00ne, I assume that you are referring to the Bruggen/Laarbruch squadrons but only one of the 9 mid-airs were in 2ATAF (Alphajets) the other 8 involved TTTE,TWCU and Marham so base proximity was not a factor.
Whilst instructing on the TWU in the late 70s, we often managed to bounce Tornados unseen and almost invariably found the nav with his head buried in the office and the pilot staring fixedly straight-ahead. I should add that when we were rushing around Wales at LL in our Hunters we rarely looked inside the cockpit as there was little to see apart from keeping a wary eye on fuel. Our lookout was thus pretty good.
I too have happy memories of the virtual free-for-all in 2ATAF. Many happy days spent in F4's attacking F104s, Mirages, AlphaJets, A!0s (a real challenge if they saw you coming which they usually did) as well as our own Jaguars and Buccaneers. I particularly remember one epic bunfight round the Peheim mast where every man and his dog piled in with in excess of 20 aircraft from at least the RAF,USAF, Luftwaffe and RNLAF - probably a couple of Belgiques too but didn't get close enough to see the whites of their eyes.