combat aircraft

A smart 85th TES
F-15C moves in
for fuel during
‘Northern Lightning’.
All photos Jonathan
Derden unless
credited otherwise

W

HEN THINKING

OF large force

employment (LFE)

exercises that provide

integration of fourth-

and ifth-generation

assets with adversary and full-spectrum

threat simulation, ‘Red Flag’ likely

irst comes to mind. It is perhaps

the best-known, and is certainly the

largest training deployment in terms of

units and aircraft. However, ‘Northern

Lightning’, held twice a year at the Volk

Field Combat Readiness Training Center

(CRTC) in Wisconsin, has become one of

the premier exercises providing LFE and

high-idelity training tailored to meet

speciic needs at squadron or unit level.

In May 2018, ‘Northern Lightning’ earned

accreditation through the Joint National

Training Committee and is now part of the

National Guard Bureau’s Regional Exercise

Program. Col Chad Milne, exercise director,

explained that being an accredited

exercise, ‘brings us credibility, and it

also brings our sister services, funding

sources and exercise credit that they can

get now by coming here. For our very

own guardsmen in our own state, what

a great opportunity. We’ve got all these

joint players, both fourth- and ifth-gen,

that want to come and train here in our

backyard.’ For the visiting units, ‘Northern

Lightning’ provides a highly customized

approach, allowing squadrons to focus

more on the tactical aspect of the training

rather than the huge operational exposure

they may get at a ‘Red Flag’ type of event.

The latest iteration, ‘Northern Lightning

18-2’, was held August 13-24, and

included more than 1,600 participants.

‘The exercise is joint, tactical training

http://www.combataircraft.net // December 2018 45