EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- Personnel from each U.S. military branch concluded the two-week, joint force training exercise, Red Flag-Alaska 25-3, at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, today.
“The purpose of Red Flag-Alaska is for the joint force to practice combat skills we don't normally get to practice at a home station,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Christian Bergtholdt, RF-A 25-3 deployed forces commander. “Getting fifth generation fighter aircraft together from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps is not something we get to do very frequently, so this was a good opportunity for us to practice against a high end threat together.”
Approximately 55 visiting aircraft participated in RF-A 25-3, such as EA-18G Growlers and multiple variants of the fifth generation fighter aircraft, the F-35 Lightning II, also engaged in daily sorties during the exercise.
“It's good to practice and operate together– see how each other talks differently, speaks differently, and just works differently,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Shaun Dickinson, 353rd Combat Training Squadron Red Flag-Alaska 25-3 team chief. “We learn what our differences are and how we can put those together. We learn to put those differences aside, and be one team, one fight.”
RF-A training ranges from individual skill development to large-scale joint engagements. The adaptable scenarios integrate a variety of forces into a realistic threat environment, leveraging over 77,000 square miles of airspace within the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex, the largest combat training range in the world.
“We've got access to a very large swath of airspace we don't normally have back home,” said U.S. Marine Corps Maj. Joshua Falgoust, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 311 (VMFA-311) assistant operations team chief. “Participating in this exercise not only gives us the ability to operate out of a new location, but also to plan and coordinate with other units operating out of different locations as well.”
The geographic environment provided by RF-A 25-3 offered an opportunity to improve logistical coordination, as well as build understanding and cohesion by bridging differences in communication and operational styles across service branches.
“This iteration of Red Flag-Alaska created good cross-talk between each branch and has really evolved our combat capabilities,” said Bergtholdt. “What I hope our Airmen, Marines, Sailors and Soldiers take away from this exercise is that when the joint force works together, American air power is pretty [darn] awesome, and we can't do it alone.”