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home > April 21, 2008 issue > article
On the fly
By Sami Lais
Special to Defense Systems
Pacific Command’s Alaskan range complex pushes the technology envelope in training
Even buttressed by computer-generated enemies and simulated
aircraft, live-range joint military training exercises can occupy
thousands of square miles. But with about 68,000 square miles of
airspace — about a third of the state — that’s not a problem for the
Pacific Alaska Range Complex.
PARC “is run by Alaska Command out of Elmendorf Air Force
Base,”said Sgt. Karin Krause, a spokeswoman at the base. Although
the Air Force maintains and operates PARC airspace, the Army,
operating from Fort Wainwright near Fairbanks, operates the
groundspace, she said.
The 353rd Combat Training Squadron controls PARC’s 68,000
square miles of air space, one conventional bombing range and two
tactical bombing ranges with more than 400 targets and 34 radar
threat simulators, according to the 354th Fighter Wing’s publicaffairs
office.
However, PARC is used by all the services. In 2004, Navy Adm.
Thomas Fargo of the Pacific Command testified to the House
Armed Services Committee about the need for a “transformation of
[PARC] into a 21st Century Joint Training Complex and Joint
National Training Capability venue.”
“Mission success requires realistic training — something inert ordnance
cannot completely provide. The first exposure to live fire
faced by our forces must not come in a hostile combat environment,
but rather in a controlled but authentic training environment where
they can learn from their experiences and condition themselves to
face the real thing.”
Training ranges, and especially the remote vastness of PARC, are
crucial, Fargo said. “Integrating virtual capabilities with existing
training ranges is the next step in providing our warfighters the optimum
combat training environment.”
That kind of exercise began as Cope Thunder joint training exercises
created during the Vietnam War after military officials realized
that the heaviest combat losses occurred during a pilot’s first few sorties.
The exercise, now known as Red Flag-Alaska (RF-A) is
designed to give pilots and air crews “their first 10 combat sorties
using the walk-crawl-run approach, stepping up the level of threat
and level of difficulty,” a spokesman said.
“It’s a large force-on-force exercise,” said Brig. Gen. William Rew,
57th Wing commander at Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base, in a statement
during RF-A exercises last year. “It’s our airpower against
theirs, and we’re trying to hit targets.”
The move to Elmendorf and Eielson bases made sense to Air Force officials: The 353rd Combat Training Squadron, under the
354th Fighter Wing at Eielson, already controlled three Alaskan
flight training ranges.
Organized as a combat squadron in 1942, the 353rd was redesignated
in 1994 as a combat training squadron (CTS) and assigned the
mission of coordinating and directing the Pacific Command’s premier
exercise, Cope Thunder, in addition to the oversight and management
of PARC.
Realigned in September 2003 from the 354th Operations Group
to the 611th Air Operations Group, the 353rd CTS has a detachment
at Elmendorf. Responsible for sponsoring training and experimentation
in Alaska, it hosts the Pacific Air Force’s RF-A, Alaska
Command’s Northern Edge and Pacific Command’s RF-A.
It’s also responsible for training, planning and coordination for
each RF-A exercise, an Air Force spokesman said. As many as 70 jet
fighters can be operating simultaneously in the same airspace. Each
exercise is customized to meet the needs of the units requesting training,
Capt. Ron Strobach, RF-A senior team chief, said in a statement.
“As long as [it] does not exceed the parameters the 353rd CTS has
established, a unit can request anything from close air support and
personnel recovery to traditional air-to-air and interdiction operations,”
he said.
Each group gets its own plan, including details such as how many
bombs they’ll drop, the aircraft they’ll bring and how many sorties
they’ll fly daily.
The 353rd also handles the logistics of hosting as many as 1,200
participants for each exercise. On average, about 700 people and 60
aircraft deploy to Eielson with an additional 500 people and 40 aircraft
at Elmendorf.
Government contractors on and off site work with the Air Force to
develop increasingly realistic exercises. The push from the top “is for
greater range and operability,” said Helen Foor, a civilian engineer with
the 353rd’s technical support element. Ongoing technology improvements,
such as new software in this year’s Northern Edge exercise, for
example, mean “better and more live training support,” Foor said.
Northern Edge evolved from the 1975 Jack Frost exercise sponsored by the Readiness Command. After the Joint Chiefs of Staff
prohibited the nickname Jack Frost, the Air Force changed the name
to Brim Frost after the 1979 exercises. In 1987, Brim Frost involved
more than 24,000 active and reserve Army, Air Force, Coast Guard
and Navy personnel and more than 143 Air Force aircraft, 130
Army aircraft and five major Coast Guard cutters. The final Brim
Frost ran in 1989.
In 1991, the newly re-established Alaska Command replaced it
with Arctic Warrior and transferred sponsorship from Forces
Command to Pacific Command.
The first Northern Edge exercise, designed as an internal training
event for headquarters and component headquarters employees,
took place in 1993. But within five years, the exercise had swelled to
include an airborne drop of 600 troops, maritime troops protecting
a mock town, Apache helicopters supporting a brigade assault and
more than 1,200 sorties assisting air operations.
Each year, the exercise grew. In 1999, the airborne jump occurred
at night; in 2000, an unmanned aerial vehicle made its first appearance;
in 2001, trained dolphins helped detect underwater intruders;
an aircraft carrier and its support ships participated in 2002. The Iraq
War made its presence felt in 2003, and the exercise focused on
homeland defense scenarios. In 2004, exercises focused air-centric
tactics and procedures with an emphasis on air-to-air, air-to-ground
and personnel recovery operations in remote areas of PARC.
Since then, Northern Edge has focused on homeland defense and
security operations in odd-numbered years and joint warfare operations
in even-numbered years.
In 2005, the exercise was combined with the state’s Alaska Shield
homeland security exercise comprising federal, state and local
organizations in natural and
man-made disaster and terrorist-related
scenarios in an interagency
environment.
Last year’s Alaska Shield/
Northern Edge “was the largest
response readiness exercise in the
history of the state,” with 75 agencies
participating, the Air Force
said. Air Force Lt. Col. Larry
Bowers, Alaska Command plans
and programs director, said that
statewide, more than 5,000 federal,
state and local government,
military, National Guard and
civilian first responders coordinated
activities to thwart the attack and treat 150 simulated victims.
PARC’s bustling present almost didn’t happen. With the conversion
of Cope Thunder to a Red Flag exercise and its move to PARC, the
range and nearby Eielson Air Force Base were scheduled for upgrades.
In August 2007, the “Eielson Air Force Base Infrastructure
Development in Support of RED FLAG-Alaska Environmental
Assessment” called for a PARC Electronic Modernization improvement
project in addition to a renovation of existing facilities.
Although the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission
recommended reassigning most of Eielson’s aircraft and downshifting
base operations, the commission reviewed its decision after the
Air Force decided to make PARC home to RF-A and other training
exercises. It instead emphasized Eielson’s proximity to PARC and
strategic role as the United States’ most northern air defense site as
critical components in maintaining Eielson’s mission.
Exercises at PARC are now in full swing. This year, for the first
time, Northern Edge will for the first time use Trusted Computer
Solutions’ SimShield Test and Training Enabling Architecture-compatible
cross-domain solution for secure interoperable communications
among live participants in addition to simulators and constructive
computer systems that generate aircraft, vehicles, even entire
armies.
And as this was written, the 353rd CTS was busy prepping for
Red Flag exercises set to begin April 7. Approximately 1,700 people
from the United States, Australia, Canada and Great Britain are
expected to participate, the Air Force said in a statement.
Additional Red Flag exercises are set for June and October, with
participants expected from Australia, Canada, Germany, Great
Britain, Japan and Korea.
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