Wolf Pack deploys to Alaska, trains in Red Flag

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Shayne Carroll
  • 35th Fighter Squadron
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  Kunsan Airmen face the unique challenge of maintaining a war fighter's mindset each and every day knowing that at any moment they may be called on to "Take the Fight North".

Proficiency plays a critical role in the combat capability of the 8th Fighter Wing and exercises like Red Flag-Alaska and Distant Thunder located at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, are in place specifically to stress the importance of executing in a wartime environment.

Wolf Pack Airmen deploy to Alaska to participate in these two unique exercises. Pilots and maintainers alike, train with a variety of platforms and services to prepare for combat in a controlled environment that would be nearly impossible to recreate day-to-day in the Republic of Korea.

Maintainers are responsible for the maintenance, arming, and de-arming of 12 aircraft twice a day over the five week timeframe. Capt. Micah Bowron, 35th FS maintenance officer in charge, alludes to the importance of the training.

"RFA provides us an opportunity to go through the steps to prepare aircraft to deploy to another location," he said. "Being here at Kunsan that opportunity is not available since we are already at our deployed location."

RFA is a realistic 10-day air combat training exercise held around four times a year. The focus of the exercise is to bring Airmen together from all different platforms and backgrounds to execute in a multi-service environment. The Pacific Air Forces' sponsored exercise is in place to ensure Airmen, whether they be pilots, maintainers, loadmasters, weapons, avionics or operations, are prepared to execute in a combat environment so when the time comes, each Airman is prepared and confident.

"We go through an entire pack-out and manage the phase flow in addition to scheduled maintenance to ensure the aircraft will be able to fly the duration of the exercise without any issues," Bowron added. "Additionally, it provides a great opportunity to load live munitions, providing valuable training experience for our operators."

Red Flag-Alaska provides joint offensive counter-air, interdiction, close air support and large force employment training in a simulated combat environment. The real world interaction between all platforms presents F-16 pilots with a realistic view of how a similar operation may unfold in any area of responsibility around the world.

Lt. Col. Steve Boatright, 35th FS commander, has flown for more than 2,000 hours in the viper and understands the importance of realistic combat training to the Air Force. After recently returning from his seventh Red Flag he reemphasized the importance of such exercises.

"The exercises, Red Flag Alaska and Distant Frontier, afford fighter squadrons across the peninsula an opportunity to drop live ordnance and train in a realistic threat environment," he said. "We are able to accomplish training that we can't get anywhere in Korea and is crucial to our combat capability and our ability to take the fight north."

With exercises like Red Flag Alaska the words "train how you fight" are taken very seriously. The true combat capability of Kunsan Airmen is tested and further honed during their deployment to Eielson. Every facet of the mission is utilized from loading the jets, flying the sortie, and recovering them with "empty" rails. Every ounce of sweat and hard work is invested to make the Wolf Pack a more lethal fighting force in the event they are required to "Take the Fight North".