‘ARCTIC
WARRIORS’
Almost tucked inside the city limits of
Fairbanks is Fort Wainwright, home of
the ‘Arctic Warriors’. This large US Army
complex includes Ladd Army Air eld
and is home of US Army Alaska
(USARAK) including the 1st Stryker
Brigade Combat Team. Flying assets
are part of 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation
Regiment and consist of three
companies ying the UH-60A/L Black
Hawk and CH-47F Chinook. The 1st
Battalion, 25th Attack Reconnaissance
Battalion, also operates the AH-64D
Apache.
The unit was heavily involved in
this ‘Red Flag — Alaska’, but it only
received tasking the day prior to
each mission. This gave the crews
minimal preparation time, but added
to the realistic feel of scenarios and
missions. Preparation for each mission
was completed the night before
the ight, with the crews showing
up three hours in advance of the
mission to complete nal details. Their
assigned missions ranged from close
air support (CAS) to troop insertion
and extraction, where multiple joint
terminal attack controllers (JTACs)
needed to be moved swiftly around
the battle eld to be on hand to
support the live ring ranges.Clearly, the ability to train in unfamiliar
terrain is a requirement that could pay
dividends in future long-range operations that
require refueling in an enemy area
Weapons systems offi cer, 120 Squadron, Israeli Air Forcea pair of KC-707 Re’em tankers from 120
‘Desert Giants’ Squadron to make the
long journey from the desert of Nevatim.
Past Nellis ‘Red Flags’ have seen these
707s supporting Israeli ghters, but this
time they lled an important part of
the overall tanker requirement for the
exercise. ‘We ew all the way to Alaska
to train with our biggest partner, the
US military,’ commented Lt Col A, the
commander of 120 Squadron. ‘This is an
advantage to both Israel and the Israeli
Air Force, which represents the strong
connection between the two countries,’
he added. Indeed, as Israel’s sole tanker
unit, readiness and interoperability are
important attributes.
Keisling added, ‘For the rst time, the
Israeli tankers were certi ed to fuel USAF
F-15s and F-16s and we were able to
incorporate them in missions throughout
the exercise. When we rst started the
planning back in August 2017, one of the
Israelis’ main requests was speci cally
training as much as possible on low ying
and navigation missions.’
One weapons systems o cer from
120 Squadron made some interesting
comments: ‘Every country in the Middle
East has a more signi cant amount of
mountainous territory than Israel. Clearly,
the ability to train in unfamiliar terrain is a
requirement that could pay dividends in
future long-range operations that require
refueling in an enemy area.’This image: A
VAQ-130 ‘Zappers’
Growler gets
airborne for the
electronic warfare
support action
during ‘Red Flag —
Alaska’.
Below: The fi ghters
deployed to
Eielson typically
sit on a large
fl ight line out
on the airfi eld
and away from
the main base
infrastructure.
Right page top
to bottom: The
Eielson aggressors
are one of only
two remaining
USAF F-16 ‘Red
Air’ units and
will be valuable
supporters
of the F-35As
when they arrive
in Alaska.
One of the 18th
AGRS’s smart
new aggressor
schemes on F-16C
serial 86-0295.
One of the two
Boeing KC-707
Re’em tankers
(serial 275) that
made the journey
to Alaska from
Israel.EXERCISE REPORT // ‘RED FLAG — ALASKA’
28 September 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
24-30 Red Flag Alaska C.indd 28 19/07/2018 12:25