Exercise Northern Edge 2011 blasts into Last Frontier

by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Amanda Dick
Northern Edge Joint Information Bureau

6/15/2011 -  Fairbanks, Alaska  -- Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, began participating in the U.S. Pacific Command's Northern Edge 2011 exercise June 13.

The exercise runs through June 24 and will focus on strategic capabilities that enable the joint-military world to be adept in detection and tracking in air, land and sea spaces.

About 6,000 active duty, guard and reserve members from the Air Force, Army, Marines and Navy will sharpen their skills through exercise scenarios and improve communication relationships and develop plans and programs that can be exchanged and used between the services.

"A joint-training exercise such as Northern Edge gives us the unique opportunity to provide our country's Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines a capabilities-based exercise to ensure they are combat ready for worldwide deployment," said Col. Lynn Scheel, 354th Fighter Wing vice commander. "Northern Edge also allows us to hone our current combat tactics and weapon capabilities, as well as the testing of future applications."

Although the exercise is headquartered at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, exercising throughout Alaska's vast Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex allows forces to train in an expansive area.

"The JPARC presents excellent training opportunities here in the Pacific region," Colonel Scheel said. "The strength of the JPARC is its expansive co-located air and land ranges, as well as significant potential for co-located air and sea ranges. Alaska is a true national asset, and we are grateful to the people of Alaska for their continued support as we use our training ranges to conduct these critical joint-training operations."

One hundred and twelve aircraft and 13 ships will be utilized for NE exercise purposes at both Eielson AFB in the north and JBER in the south. Here, some of the units involved include the 67th Aircraft Maintenance Unit (67th AMU) from Kadena Air Base, Japan; U.S. Navy Patrol Squadron One (VP-1) from Whidbey Island, Wash.; and the U.S. Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 452 (VMGR-452) from Stewart Air National Guard Base, N.Y.

"We're here to get a better understanding of how to work with other services," said U.S. Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Griggsby Cowart, KC-130T navigator with the VMGR-452. "Since we're in a support role, I think the main impact we can have would be to keep our airplanes flying, so we can provide the refueling portion of our mission."

The squadron brought with them two C-130T refueling aircraft and 30 personnel to help maintain that support role.

"I think the planning part of this is the biggest deal for us -- being able to get in, use other equipment, share the same lingo and plan alongside other platforms and services," continued the gunnery sergeant, who hails from Atlanta, Ga. "And, how to integrate our assets with theirs is the most important thing."

Safety is a top priority for the joint exercise.

"Conducting a large scale exercise such as Northern Edge 2011 is not without risk, but we work extremely hard to identify and mitigate potential risks to all participants," the colonel said. "Although this is an important exercise for our armed forces, nothing we do in this exercise warrants putting our personnel at unnecessary risk of injury or death. Emphasis on safety, strict adherence to training rules and the professional conduct of our participants significantly lowers this risk."

Northern Edge is a 10-day exercise held every two years.