1 00:00:01,794 --> 00:00:04,499 - [Josh] The men and women of the 354th fighter wing 2 00:00:04,499 --> 00:00:06,707 are expected to be prepared to be deploy 3 00:00:06,707 --> 00:00:08,457 at a moment's notice. 4 00:00:08,498 --> 00:00:12,143 Ready to act, should a contingency ever arise. 5 00:00:12,143 --> 00:00:15,127 Which is exactly what Artic Gold 18 one is preparing 6 00:00:15,127 --> 00:00:16,044 them to do. 7 00:00:17,319 --> 00:00:19,193 - So I think the fact that the wing puts 8 00:00:19,193 --> 00:00:22,876 ^such an emphasis on exercises like this directly correlates 9 00:00:22,876 --> 00:00:26,542 ^to the priority to fight tonight because now we can know 10 00:00:26,542 --> 00:00:28,989 ^for a fact that we're ready to go, if and when 11 00:00:28,989 --> 00:00:30,322 ^we're called up. 12 00:00:31,717 --> 00:00:34,035 - [Josh] Exercises such as Artic Gold not only allow 13 00:00:34,035 --> 00:00:37,880 airmen to prepare to deploy, but also gives their family 14 00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:39,888 a little bit of insight as to what a deployment 15 00:00:39,888 --> 00:00:40,888 may be like. 16 00:00:42,049 --> 00:00:44,925 - Well, so I've got a lot of young airmen in my squadron, 17 00:00:44,925 --> 00:00:46,906 and exercises like this are probably the first time their 18 00:00:46,906 --> 00:00:49,948 families have seen them uprooted from their normal schedule, 19 00:00:49,948 --> 00:00:54,115 and sent out the door to essentially a pretend war today. 20 00:00:54,333 --> 00:00:56,531 So I think it's good kind of just setting the stage for 21 00:00:56,531 --> 00:00:58,661 the families so they know what to expect if it were 22 00:00:58,661 --> 00:01:00,011 to happen in real life. 23 00:01:00,011 --> 00:01:03,324 - [Josh] Senior Airman, Josh Weaver, Eielson Air Force Base, 24 00:01:03,324 --> 00:01:04,157 Alaska.