Staff report
1/12/2015 - JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- As a new year starts, the 3rd Wing has already begun to gear up in support of exercise Sentry Aloha, an annual aerial combat exercise focused on offensive and defensive counter measures. However, before they begin the many operations they will support in 2015, Air Force Col. Charles Corcoran, 3rd Wing commander, reflected on the many accomplishments of 2014.
"2014 was a tremendous year for the 3rd Wing," Corcoran said. "We flew nearly 22,000 flight hours worldwide, maintained continuous alert coverage for the Alaska NORAD Region, and executed the second largest open house in Alaska history, all while caring for 2,200 Airmen during the largest active- duty force-reduction program in 50 years."
The 3rd Wing began its tremendous 2014 last February by validating its joint and combined capabilities when five U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft, including one from the 517th Airlift Squadron "Firebirds," left Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson for Thailand to drop paratroopers from the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, to the joint and combined exercise Cobra Gold 2014.
Cobra Gold, an annual exercise providing tactical, humanitarian and civil assistance, brought together multiple nations cooperating to support the security and stability of the Asia-Pacific region.
"The reason we have those airplanes is to demonstrate those capabilities. We have crew members that always strive to be outstanding and the Army has Soldiers whose goal is to be outstanding," said Air Force Col. Tony Schenk, mission commander from the 437th Operations Group at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina. "In this particular exercise, we strove for perfection together and I think that Col. (Matt) McFarlane (4/25 IBCT commander) and I had a great relationship and we executed it together."
This past July the men and women of the 3rd Wing also supported Arctic Thunder Open House 2014 and helped JBER give back to the local community.
"Really, the draw - besides the show itself - is the spirit of the Air Force and America, represented by the Thunderbirds," said Air Force Maj. Karl Easterly, 962nd Airborne Air Control Squadron and open house director, prior to the show. "We wanted people to be excited about the Air Force and excited about JBER. It was very much a family-friendly event. We had all sorts of fun, games and food; from bouncy castles to jets, we had it all."
In September, members of the 90th Fighter Squadron and the 3rd Maintenance Group traveled to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam to participate in operation Valiant Shield. Valiant Shield is a U.S.-only exercise integrating an estimated 18,000 Navy, Air Force, Army and Marine Corps personnel, more than 200 aircraft and 19 surface ships, offering real-world joint operational experience to develop capabilities that provide a full range of options to defend U.S. interests and those of its allies and partners.
Valiant Shield provided a unique mission planning structure due to the geographical separation of the Navy pilots on the aircraft carriers planning operations on shore.
The goal was for all of the pilots to be on the same page, but that's not always possible, said Air Force Maj. Matthew Miller, 90th Fighter Squadron assistant director of operations.
That's why it was critical to understand how each other operated - much like building muscle memory. Valiant Shield created that muscle memory. There is always a need for flexibility to ensure the mission still gets accomplished, he added.
This need for flexibility in the face of changes - in plans, tropical weather, targets and objectives -provided an added sense of realism to the execution of Valiant Shield.
"There were a lot of things changing every single day," Miller said. "For me, personally, I think this was as close to real as you can possibly get. This is how we are going to get to fight in the Pacific. We are not going to have this experience in the type of environment where we are all conveniently at the same base and same mission planning. So [here], we get people and assets from all over the place - and we are expected to fight together."
At the beginning of November, the 525th Fighter Squadron headed off to Kadena Air Base, Japan , to participate in Exercise Keen Sword.
Exercise Keen Sword is a bilateral field training exercise held biennially since 1986. The exercise is designed to increase the interoperability of U.S. Forces and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force to effectively and mutually provide for the defense of Japan, or respond to a regional crisis or contingency situation in the Asia-Pacific region.
Approximately 11,000 U.S. personnel participated in Keen Sword, including those assigned to U.S. Forces Japan Headquarters, 5th Air Force, U.S. Naval Forces Japan, U.S. Army Japan and III Marine Expeditionary Force.
The forces conducted training with their JASDF counterparts at military installations throughout mainland Japan, Okinawa and in the waters surrounding Japan.
"This exercise is another opportunity for us to work with our Japanese counterparts," said Rear Adm. John D. Alexander, commander, Battle Force 7th Fleet before the exercise. "We are fortunate they are capable and have the capacity to operate alongside us. The fact that we are able to conduct operations as allies and partners goes to the heart of the training that we do together. We need to continue to focus on our relationship both at sea and in port."
The 3rd Wing successfully completed this year's accomplishments tasks while being called upon to host, in conjunction with Eielson Air Force Base, four Red Flag-Alaska exercises this year. An RF-A is a training exercise which puts pilots in combat situations and ensures their ability to thrive in such situations.
"The Joint Pacific-Alaska Range Complex airspace allows aircraft to practice tasks that cannot be accomplished in other areas," said Air Force Lt. Col. Dylan Baumgartner, commander of the 353rd Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 1, out of Eielson Air Force Base. "The large volume of sky and lack of population throughout most of the range space allows for full use of aircraft capabilities, such as extended supersonic flight, which isn't available in most training areas.
In addition to the Alaska units, Air Force units from all over the world participate in Red Flag exercises. All four U.S. military branches are represented and a varying number of international allies take part in each quarterly training.
"In this RF-A [14-3], the U.S. and Australia are the participating nations, but typically we see approximately 16 nations during four exercises throughout the year," Baumgartner said in August. "All four U.S. services are participating. U.S. Navy and Marine Corps aircraft are flying along with U.S. Air Force aircraft. U.S. Army personnel are involved in operations in and around Eielson and Fort Greeley, Alaska in the landing zones and bombing ranges contained in the JPARC."
Corcoran summed up the wings accomplishments of 2014 in a simple statement about the future.
"We're looking forward to continued successes during another busy year for the 3rd Wing in 2015," Corcoran said.
(Editors note: Additional reporting by Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Everett Allen, USS George Washington Public Affairs.)
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