Team Seymour pinch hits in Last Frontier

  • Published
  • By By Staff Sgt. Shawn J. Jones
  • Red Flag-Alaska Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  The 4th Fighter Wing demonstrated its readiness to deliver air power on target, on time as 169 Airmen and 10 F-15E Strike Eagles deployed with short notice to Red Flag-Alaska, a multinational air combat training exercise, July 11 - 28. 

The wing is the lead wing for the training exercise, meaning they supply the deployed forces leadership, most of the staff positions and most personnel. While lead wings are typically given nine months of preparation time prior to a Red Flag-Alaska exercise, the Airmen from the 4th Fighter Wing received only a 1-month notice after another wing withdrew from the exercise. 

"The smooth deployment of the 4th Fighter Wing personnel and equipment to Red Flag-Alaska demonstrates not only the ability of the wing to operated in today's expeditionary environment, but also the exceptional professionalism of its people," said Col. Daniel DeBree, the deployed forces commander at Red Flag-Alaska who assumed the wing's vice commander position at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., July 20. 

According to Air Force doctrine, short-notice assignments should come as no surprise to any Airman. Rapid global mobility, the ability to respond quickly and decisively anywhere needed, is a distinctive capability of the Air Force. 

All of the Airmen who deployed to Red Flag-Alaska and the Airmen who remained at Seymour Johnson made sacrifices to make the short-notice deployment go so smoothly, said Chief Master Sgt. Ronald Carlson, the superintendent of Red Flag-Alaska deployed forces. 

Preparing personnel and equipment for deployment to a large-scale exercise is challenging, but the wing managed to meet or exceed all of the requirements for Red Flag-Alaska despite the short notice, said Tech. Sgt. Gary Dishman, a logistical planner with the 4th Logistics Readiness Squadron. 

Wing leadership volunteered for the exercise earlier this year, but commitments had already been promised to other wings. When a last-minute opening for a lead wing came up, the 4th FW was quick to pounce on the opportunity. 

"Red Flag-Alaska presents a unique set of conditions which allow participants to experience exceptional training," said Colonel DeBree. 

One key feature of the exercise is its setting. Pacific Alaska Range Complex, America's largest training range, provides 67,000 square miles of airspace, several bombing ranges and contains more than 400 different types of targets. The vast and varied terrain of the range complex helps flying units to train in environments that are typically unlike those of their home station. The mountain ranges, in particular, offer unique training opportunities 4th Fighter Wing aircrews can not get over the coastal plains of eastern North Carolina. 

"The terrain, the threat simulators, the weather and the target arrays we experience here in Alaska can prepare us better than anywhere else in the world for the experiences our aircrew will face during combat," said Lt. Col. James Jinnette, 355th Fighter Squadron commander. 

The air-to-air combat training of Red Flag-Alaska is also expected to provide an almost-real combat experience for aircrews. Aggressor squadrons are allied units that adopt the traits, tactics and tendencies of enemy air forces to provide a training environment that is more realistic than training against traditional allied units. 

"Having the aggressors join this exercise provides a phenomenal opportunity for us and our coalition partners to simulate the most difficult of combat scenarios," said Colonel Jinnette. "While ingressing and egressing the target areas, we face a formidable group of professionals who simulate the best air threat our enemy could present us in combat." 

Air-to-air threats aren't the only hazards the aircrew will face at Red Flag-Alaska. The Strike Eagles will have plenty of opportunities to practice close air support and non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions they employ while supporting the Global War on Terror. 

"We have forces on the ground who simulate the same types of situations our aircrew experience daily over Iraq and Afghanistan," said Colonel Jinnette. 

Another key feature of Red Flag-Alaska is the presence of a multinational force. U.S. Airmen will work and fly alongside an international force from Japan, Mongolia, Spain, Thailand and Turkey. Training here will afford Airmen from Seymour Johnson an opportunity to better understand the tactics and techniques of their peers from allied nations.
Collectively, the vast and varied terrain of the Pacific Alaska Range Complex, the presence of the aggressor squadron and the multinational participation help make Red Flag-Alaska a realistic air combat exercise. 

"Red Flag-Alaska truly gives us the ability to train like we fight," said Colonel DeBree.