'Vampire Bats' take to skies of Alaska

  • Published
  • By Marine Sgt. Zachary Dyer
  • Northern Edge 2009 Joint Information Bureau
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Northern Edge 2009 is a joint training exercise connecting approximately 9,000 servicemembers from throughout the country and throughout the world, and involving more than 200 aircraft. Some of those service members and aircraft came from as far away as Kadena Air Force Base, Japan.

Pilots and maintenance personnel from the 44th Fighter Squadron and the 44th Aircraft Maintenance Unit made the trip to the 'Last Frontier' to participate in the largest military training exercise in Alaska, June 15-26.

The 44th FS, known as the "Vampire Bats," brought 12 of their F-15 Eagles to add their own "sound of freedom" to the Alaskan skies. During the exercise, the 'Bats have the opportunity to train alongside Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets, F-22 Raptors and C-17 Globemasters.

"It's a great opportunity to work with other units, other platforms," said Capt. Michael Kuehni, a F-15 pilot with the 44th FS. "We have the Air Force, Navy, Marine and Army working all together to achieve a common objective."

The pilots of the 44th FS will train in counter-air operations, close air support, and air interdiction of maritime targets during the two-week exercise. The overall focus of Northern Edge is to prepare each of the services to respond to a crisis in the Asia-Pacific region.

Northern Edge also gives the pilots of the 44th FS the chance to see how well the different services work together and the strengths and weaknesses that each service brings to the table in different situations, according to Kuehni.

While the pilots are up in the sky, the Airmen of the 44th AMU are working on the ground to make sure the pilots are able to stay there.

"Its pretty impressive getting to work with all the services," said Master Sgt. Eric Butts, the maintenance project officer for the 44th AMU. "I've worked with a lot of Marines and a lot of Navy guys so far to help create the whole process. Just to have the opportunity to bring all 12 F-15s that we brought, plus the 120-body maintenance package, has been an absolutely fantastic time so far. It's been a good experience."

Northern Edge provides a great training experience for many of the young Airmen that the 44th AMU brought with them, according to Butts. The operational tempo of the exercise means the Airmen get a lot of hands-on maintenance time on the aircraft to make sure they are always ready to fly.

"We brought quite a few new guys on this trip," said Butts. "Most of them, this is actually their first (TDY, and it's good for them to actually see what it actually takes to put the mission together."

The young Airmen on the line making sure their aircraft are ready to answer the call appreciate the opportunity to be part of something as large as Northern Edge.

"I think it's great because it replicates a real-world scenario - if a real-world crisis was to happen," said Airman 1st Class Brendan Lowry, a F-15 crew chief with the 44th AMU. "Being maintainers, we don't really interact that much with the other servicemembers. But the pilots, they're doing some really cool stuff up there with the other services."