MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan –
Pilots from the 13th Fighter Squadron and
maintainers from the 35th Maintenance Group are currently engaged in the aerial
training exercise Red Flag held at Eielson and Elmendorf Air Force Bases,
Alaska.
The exercise, created in 1975, brings participants from different
air bases and services together, to test their ability to integrate different
aerial missions, tactics and personnel in order to combat real-world contingency
operations in a controlled setting. Red Flag Alaska is specific to Pacific Air
Forces, which owns the largest area of responsibility of all major
commands.
With an average of more than 500 personnel and 50 aircraft in
play, Red Flag's two-week exercise features a heavily populated airspace that
regularly conducts multiple combat missions daily.
During the two weeks,
teams are subjected to a constantly changing environment and mission scenarios,
designed to test both aircrew and pilots' ability to rapidly accustom them to
the evolving exercise.
"Based on historical data, a pilot's first 10
combat sorties were the most likely to result in a combat loss," said Air Force
Lt. Col. Luke Casper, 13 FS commander." Red Flag is designed to give the newly
mission-ready wingman his or her first 10 sorties in a combat-like environment
rather than actual combat in order to mitigate losses."
Often split into
two teams, an opposing red team and defensive blue team, the scenarios put into
play depict real-world combat situations requiring the use of multi-role tactics
and training.
Defensively, ground forces' objective is to initiate in
surface-to-air warfare, employing devices simulating real anti-air threats like
anti-artillery cannons and surface-to-air missiles, operated by the 353rd Combat
Training Squadron, from Eielson AFB. These attacks directly test the
participants of the 35th Fighter Wing, whose Wild Weasel mission is structured
around the suppression of enemy air defenses.
The offending force
naturally contains the air power present in all branches of service, split
between the numerous countries who participate. A third party white team is used
to mediate the simulated battlefield and ensure all parties safely operate and
carry out the mission.
"Although we train on a day-to-day basis at home
station, the cross-talk we get when we join other forces in a large force
exercise such as this is invaluable for both ops and maintenance," said
Casper.
Red Flag is expected to conclude mid-May, when a contingent of 35
FW Airmen will remain in Alaska to carry out Distant Frontier, a similar
exercise with a larger focus on dropping live munitions.