Republic of Korea AFCOS visits Eielson

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Shawn Nickel
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  The Republic of Korea Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Ilhwan Sung, visited here Aug. 5 to 6.

Sung toured RED FLAG-Alaska facilities prior to the Republic of Korea participating for the first time, gave a morale speech to his airmen and met Eielson's senior leaders.
 
The ROKAF brought six aircraft and more than 120 airmen for the two-week RF-A 13-3 exercise.

One of the main stops during his visit was the 18th Aggressor Squadron, which operates Eielson's F-16 Fighting Falcons.

The 18th AGRS prepares RF-A participants through challenging, realistic threat replication, training, test support, academics and feedback. The Aggressors have a unique, dedicated mission to know, teach and replicate potential enemy threats.

RF-A, a Pacific Air Forces-sponsored, Joint National Training Capability accredited exercise, enables participating units to sharpen their combat skills by flying simulated combat sorties in a realistic threat environment.

The exercise provides unique opportunities to integrate various forces into joint, coalition and multilateral training from simulated forward operating bases.

Additionally, the training allows participants to exchange tactics, techniques and procedures, as well as improve interoperability.

While aircraft utilize thousands of square miles of training ground within interior Alaska, maintenance and support personnel utilize the opportunity to train to sustain a large-force deployed operation.

Men and women from the U.S. Air Force active duty, Reserve and Air National Guard, U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea will participate in two weeks of tactical air combat exercises designed to replicate the stress warfighters face during their first 10 combat sorties of a conflict.

More than 60 aircraft and 2,600 personnel at Eielson  and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson are participating in RF-A 13-3.