Alaska ANG support key to Northern Edge success

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Mikal Canfield
  • Northern Edge 2008 Joint Information Bureau
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  It's easy to be impressed watching America's best fighter aircraft tear through the sky - some at supersonic speeds - as they train on counter air, close-air support and air interdiction missions. Somewhere above it all, flying at 28,000 feet, is an important key to the success of Northern Edge 2008; the aerial refueling aircraft of the Alaska Air National Guard.

Flying the KC-135 Stratotanker, Eielson's 168th Air Refueling Wing delivers the fuel aircraft need to remain engaged in the realistic scenarios of Northern Edge. Between eight and 12 tankers depart the base each day on four-hour missions, each tanker providing fuel to as many as 18 aircraft in one mission.

"We're one of the keys to global reach and the global capability mission as a kind of gas station in the sky," said Col. Scott Wenke, 168th ARW commander. "We take pride in being able to get fuel to anybody, anywhere."

The anybody, anywhere part of the mission is tested every day during Northern Edge. On any given day of the exercise, the unit can refuel Air Force F-15 Eagles, F-16 Falcons, Marine F-18 Hornets, and the Air Force's newest weapons system, the F-22 Raptor. This is particularly exciting to the Airmen delivering the fuel.

"The F-22s are my favorite aircraft to work with," said Staff Sgt. Christian Willey, a 168th ARW boom operator. "It's great being able to watch them 'crank and bank' after they've refueled."

Sergeant Willey, who has been a boom operator for a little more than a year, sees the benefit in the kinds of training missions Northern Edge provides.

"During a normal training flight, we might be in the air for five hours and have only one receiver. During Northern Edge missions, you could see four or five different receivers and each aircraft is different," he added. "Working with the different services and different airframes is excellent training. Plus, this is the best job ever. It's one of those jobs you wish everybody could experience."

Northern Edge 2008, which began May 5 and concludes May 16, is one of many exercises designed to give Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Coast Guardsmen and Marines a chance to sharpen their skills prior to facing a real-world combat scenario.

"We learned a hard lesson years ago that sending our young Airmen into combat without the proper training was not the way to do business," said Colonel Wenke. "Northern Edge gives us a chance to learn from our mistakes by training in a combat scenario. This ensures we are ready before going into combat."

With more than 5,000 participants, Northern Edge is the largest military training exercise in Alaska. Being key to the success of the exercise is something the Alaska Air National Guard Airmen take pride in.

"It really gives us an opportunity to demonstrate the importance of tankers," said Sergeant Willey. "Plus, we are the main tanker unit in Alaska. It is our airspace in our backyard, but really it's a team effort - everybody makes the mission possible."