F-35 at Northern Edge

05/09/2017

05/09/2017: U.S. Marines from Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 perform preflight operational checks on a U.S. Marine Corps F-35B Lightning II aircraft at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, May 4, 2017.

Northern Edge, Alaska’s largest and premier joint training exercise, is designed to enhance interoperability among the services and ensure service members are ready for deployment.

The exercise provides real-world proficiency in detection and tracking of units at sea, in the air and on land and response to multiple crises in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.

The Marines are with VMFA-121, Marine Aircraft Group 12, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, III Marine Expeditionary Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Andy Martinez)

JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, AK, UNITED STATES

05.05.2017

Alaskan NORAD Region/Alaskan Command/11th Air Force

According to a story by Naomi Cloud and published in the Alaska Journal of Commerce on May 3, 2017:

Alaskans looking to the skies this week will witness military jets acting out a war scenario in rare training opportunities meant to sharpen tactical combat skills.

The Exercise Northern Edge May 1-12 includes an exercise that pits blue team against red team and involves about 6,000 U.S. military personnel. The combat zone is above central Alaska ranges and the Gulf of Alaska.

Though Lt. Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach couldn’t give a lot of specifics about the actual plot acted out in sky and sea, he told a room full of reporters May 2 that the Red team was simulating the aggressors leading to a conflict.

Led by Col. David Mineau, stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, the team is trained in realistic combat adversary training in air, space and information operations.

“The Blue Team takes down in a simulation of integrated air defenses,” he said.

Over the past several decades of conducting the exercises in Alaska, pilots of F-15s, F-16s, F-22s and now the new F-35s improve crucial skills.

“About 50 percent of the pilots are inexperienced and early in their careers. They are learning these lessons for the first time,” Wilsbach said.

Simulating cyber attacks are also part of the scenario. Personnel play both sides: they act as hackers breaking into a system or are victims of hackers so that defensive tactics for stopping them are exercised.

Perhaps the biggest first for this year’s training is the use of the fifth-generation fighters, the F-35s, flown in from Japan for the exercise, Wilsbach said.

Alaska will receive its own batch of F-35s at Eielson in spring 2020, a fact that is eagerly awaited in Fairbanks, said Mineau.

“For now, we will get to see how they operate for the first time,” he said.

Although plagued by cost overruns and technical issues, the aircraft are considered the most advanced fifth-generation multirole fighter jet.

The F-35 is designed to perform ground attack and air defense missions utilizing stealth technology. At JBER, the first time military were seeing F-35s fly the sky was May 1, the first day of the training.

Practicing for war in Alaska gives the best training range in the U.S., far away from heavy civilian and commercial traffic elsewhere in the country, military officials said. It is preparing joint forces to respond to crises in the Indo-Asia-Pacific region. They utilize 67,000 square miles of land and sea, a size equivalent to the state of Florida.

“We’re operating where there is not a lot of people or marine mammals,” Col. Christopher Niemi said.

Though Northern Exercise is frequently criticized for disrupting migrating whales and nesting birds, the command insists that environmental protection is an integral part of the exercise.

Based on environmental impact studies, the routes are planned to avoid harming wildlife, Niemi said. Since the Exercise Northern Edge began in 1993, the military has been able to avoid major harm to the environment, the officials contend. Nevertheless, the military meets with protests and environmental scrutiny each time they stage the 200 aircraft, three-ship engagement in Alaska.

People in the more populated areas will no doubt hear and see – even feel the ground shake – as the jets are flown in training sessions, Col. George Dietrich III told the reporters.

Rather than feeling inconvenienced, “we hope you will tell your viewers they can be proud of the military service men and women” as they become more skilled at protecting the U.S., he said.

Given today’s global climate where people worry over the many emerging conflicts, including North Korea, the Middle East and even Russia’s recent air aggressions south of Kodiak, the exercises take on more importance in the public eye, the commanders acknowledged.

“The goal is to anticipate any future national security threat or challenge,” Niemi said.

That involves training preparation on-going, not just during the exercise. Though, current global conflict concerns are not the immediate reason for the exercise.

“Northern Exercise is to continue to build,” our defenses, he said.

Certainly, when two Russian TU-95 Bear bombers were spotted flying about 41 miles off Alaska in late April, JBER pilots and command were able to react protecting America’s sovereignty in the area. The Russians penetrated U.S. air space twice in 24 hours. In those cases, the command reacted with “real world response.”

“What does that mean?” Niemi said. “It means we are always ready to respond to real world events. “(Reacting to) planes in U.S. space turned into an exercise to hone better skills.”

With Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson hosting the event, military personnel scrambled to come up with housing for an additional 2,000 participants. Some 900 of them were placed in hotels Downtown. Another 1,100 were accommodated in barracks and other quarters.

Participating units include U.S. Pacific Command, Alaskan Command, U.S. Pacific Fleet, Pacific Air Force, Air National Guard, and U.S. Naval Reserve.

One participant at JBER’s press conference May 2 was a photojournalist from the Netherlands. Arnold Tenvween’s photos of multi-generational fighter jets are shared with NATO and global publications.

“I feel proud. I feel safer,” Tenvween said, referring to watching the jets take off. “I am glad to see this show of strength.”

First Deployment of F-35s to Bulgaria

05/08/2017

05/08/2017: Major Luke Harris – F-35A pilot from the 34th Fighter Squadron, US Air Force.

“What makes the F-35 great is the stealth capability, the ability to get to the target undetected by ground and air threats.

“And also the fusion, the sensors. So me as a pilot pulls in all the information that the sensors detect and passes that to me and it thereby increases the lethality of all the other fighters airborne so any other NATO Allies, US aircraft we are flying with, 4th and 5th generation, are made better as a whole by the capabilities of the F-35.

“The privilege to be on this first deployment and part of the first F-35 combat-coded Squadron and here on our first overseas deployment. So this is just part of the progression of the life of the F-35 we declared initial operation capability. And now we are moving towards deployments, both to England and out here to Bulgaria and Estonia just to build relationships with our NATO Allies.

“So refuelling is kind of like an airborne gas truck. We can’t stop and pull over on the side of the road and get gas so we bring gas with us in the form of today a KC-135 tanker. The KC-135 is similar size to the airline you take when you want to go on vacation.

“So me and my fighter am pulling in within five feet to that aircraft and connecting to a hose and they are passing gas to me. So, there can be a challenge, it takes very fine precision flying to not hit the plane that you are getting gas from. You need the gas but you don’t want to hit the plane that is giving you the gas, so you fly very carefully and precisely to get that gas.” 

Lieutenant General Richard M. Clarck – 3rd Air Force Commander, US Air Force

“This first F-35A deployment to Europe was planned to maximise training opportunities, strengthen the NATO Alliance and enhance NATO’s collective security.

“To increase our dominance of the air and cyberspace domains combined with the amazing team of airmen who support it, this combat capability brings to bear truly game-changing capability.

“So coming to Bulgaria was a big opportunity for us to put this airplane somewhere where it hadn’t been before. We can understand better what is required to employ it in a place like this.

“But also it lets our NATO partners know how important they are to us. We bring this plane, our newest airplane here, to Bulgaria. That sends a message to Bulgaria that they are a key and critical partner and we want to share this new weapons system with them.”

Major General Tsanko Stoykov – Commander of the Bulgarian Air Force (English translation according to the translator in situ)

“So all this led to today, when for the first time within the framework of one such joint training event, we are hosting the latest generation, the 5th-generation multi-role F-35 stealth aircraft, which is now in service with the US forces.”

BULGARIA:04.28.2017

Natochannel

F-35s to Estonia

05/08/2017: The latest generation of US fighter jets have started training over continental Europe.

The move is part of an effort to reassure NATO Allies amid tensions with Russia.

Two US Air Force F-35 fighter jets have arrived in Estonia. It’s the first time the aircraft has taken part in training over continental EuropeUS Air Force F-35 .

The deployment is part of the European Reassurance Initiative, implemented by the United States to provide effective deterrence and assurance measures in Eastern Europe in the wake of a more aggressive Russia.

The F-35s will remain in Estonia for several weeks, conducting training flights with aircraft from the US and other NATO Allies. 

ESTONIA

04.25.2017:Natochannel

F-35s to Bulgaria

05/08/2017: Two US Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft practise air-to-air refuelling before arriving for the first time in Bulgaria.

Rumen Radev, President of Bulgaria, is hosting the arrival ceremony.

Two US Air Force F-35A Lightning II aircraft from the 34th Fighter Squadron are on temporary deployment to RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom.

Alongside one KC-135R Stratotanker from the 459th Air Refueling Wing, these aircraft fly from Hill Air Force Base in the US to Graf Ignatievo Air Base in Bulgaria as part of a training deployment.

BULGARIA:04.28.2017

Natochannel

F-35s at Atlantic Trident 2017

04/26/2017

04/26/2017: Currently, Langley AFB is hosting a trilateral exercise where 4th generation aircraft from the USAF, the RAF and the FAF are flying with USAF fifth generation aircraft in a high end combat training exercise.

F35 taxiing at Joint Base Langley-Eustis during Atlantic Trident 2017.

04.20.2017

Video by Senior Airman Enrique Barcelo

Air Combat Command Public Affairs

Refueling F-35s on European Deployment

04/26/2017: Airmen from the 349 Air Refueling Squadron use their KC-135 Stratotanker to refuel four F-35A Lightning II fighters on their way to Europe for the first time for a training deployment.

Europe is scheduled to begin receiving the fifth generation fighter in the early 2020’s.

KS, UNITED STATES:04.14.2017

Video by Staff Sgt. Aaron Richardson

1st Combat Camera Squadron

Marines Conduct Hot Load Distributed STOVL Operation with F-35B

04/25/2017

04/25/2017: U.S. Marines with Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One (MAWTS-1) and U.S. Marines with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron (VMFA) 211 conducted the first independent Distributed STOVL Operation (DSO) by flying all ordnance, personnel, and fuel in on mission aircraft at Yuma, Ariz., April 13,2017.

Marines employed the manual drive assembly to load all up rounds using a short airfield for tactical support (SATS) loader.

WTI is a seven-week training event hosted by MAWTS-1 cadre, which emphasizes operational integration of the six functions of Marine Corps aviation in support of a Marine Air Ground Task Force and provides standardized advanced tactical training and certification of unit instructor qualifications to support Marine Aviation Training and Readiness and assists in developing and employing aviation weapons and tactics.

YUMA, AZ, UNITED STATES

04.13.2017

Video by Lance Cpl. Benjamin Drake

MAWTS-1 Combat Camera

F-35s Arrive at RAF Lakenheath: Process Begins of Standing Up a New NATO Capability

04/25/2017: The video highlights F-35s from Hill AFB, Utah, arrive at Royal Air Force Base Lakenheath, England, for a training deployment

And we published an interview from a visit to RAF Lakenheath April 4, 2017 which follows:

During my visit to the United Kingdom in March 2017, I had a chance to visit RAF Lossiemouth, RAF Marham and RAF Lakenheath.

Here the UK is leading the way in shaping a new infrastructure for a 21st century air combat force and with its operational footprint at RAF Lakenheath, the USAF is well positioned to interact with this dynamic of change.

With the RAF and the USAF setting up four squadrons of F-35s between them at two nearby RAF bases, there is a clear opportunity to shape a common sustainment solution.

And the impact of so doing could be significant on the North Sea neighbors, namely, the Danes the Norwegians and the Dutch.

This is clearly a key way ahead in building out NATO capabilities going forward, which provides a 21st century example of burden sharing which delivers relevant capabilities.

http://www.sldforum.com/2016/05/leveraging-the-raf-marham-and-raf-lakenheath-strategic-opportunity/

I discussed this strategic shift last year with the wing commander at RAF Lakenheath. Col., now Brigadier General select, Novotny highlighted the importance of such an effort.

“I see there is great potential for two countries to develop in concert, side-by-side, and to set, set the model for joint operations.

“As we get this right, we can bring in the Danes, the Norwegians and Dutch who are close in geography and the Israelis and Italians as well to shape the evolving joint operational culture and approach.

“Before you know it, you’ve got eight countries flying this airplane seamlessly integrated because of the work that Lakenheath and Marham are doing in the 20 nautical miles radius of the two bases.”

https://www.sldinfo.com/synergy-and-building-out-extended-nato-defense/

During my visit this year, I had a chance to talk with Col. Evan Pettus, the Commander of the 48th Fighter Wing at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England.

Also, participating in the discussion was Lt. Col. Vause who is the 48th Wing F-35 program integration officer, and whom I met with last year.

Question: Most recently, you came from South Korea certainly an area of strategic interest for the United States. Coming back to Europe, what do you find different than before and analogous in some ways to the situation in the Pacific?

Col. Pettus: I completed my last assignment in Europe in 2012.

The big shift in the interim has been from a primary emphasis on building partnership capacity to improving interoperability and readiness.

In other words, EUCOM’s focus has changed from reassuring allies and partners to deterrence.

Question: So the F-35 is coming at a good time from your point of view?

Col. Pettus: Absolutely.

We do not have a closer partner than the UK.

We will both operate the F-35 from Marham and Lakenheath respectively, which are very close to one another.

Shaping synergy between the two bases is clearly an important objective.

We are working this process in a step by step manner, from understanding how we might operate F-35As from Marham and F-35Bs from Lakenheath, to deeper sustainment and training opportunities as well.

Computer Generated Image of the Maintenance and Finish Facility which is being built at RAF Marham, Norfolk, as part of a programme of works to prepare the station for the arrival of the F-35 Lightning II fleet in 2018.

We exchange pilots and officers all the time between the USAF and the RAF, and we share a great deal of information.

This provides a lot of opportunities for synergy in training, and opportunities to explore common support concepts for the F-35 as a fleet.

Question: You have working groups addressing these issues, which I discussed the last time I was here.

What is the process currently?

Col. Pettus: The working groups meet about every six weeks, and we are starting simple.

For example, how can we support one another if aircraft from one base divert to the other due to bad weather?

We are looking at basic maintenance support for launch and recovery of aircraft and shaping the proper agreements and the proper procedures to that end.

As we work through that, we can then proceed to other opportunities for operational cooperation.

Right now it’s all pre-decisional.

It’s very exploratory but we are talking about the right things, such as basic maintenance actions to support one another.

Lt. Col. Vause: I know you have written about the FACO in Italy and the kinds of maintenance support, which it could provide for the US and the allies.

We are looking at such possibilities in the UK as well at Marham and other support centers in the UK.

I would anticipate that some of our major level maintenance might be done at allied facilities.

That’s just a different model from what we do today.

Question: One impact of the standing up of an F-35 global enterprise is clearly the opportunity to cross learn.

I assume that is happening with regard to the standup of the F-35s at Lakenheath with regard to lessons learned from Marham and other F-35 bases as well?

Lt. Col. Vause: The cross learning is very important as we stand up our facilities here at Lakenheath.

We are visiting a number of facilities to see what their lessons learned are, and we then apply them directly to our standup here at Lakenheath.

Recently, we visited Yuma, Luke, Hill and Eielson to see what they have done and are doing in setting up or operating their F-35 facilities.

And our pilots at Lakenheath are already flying with the F-35s available in the force.

For example, Lakenheath pilots participated in the recent Red Flag exercise and flew alongside F-35s in the exercise.

So we do not need to wait until our own jets arrive to begin integrating lessons learned.

Col. Pettus: Put simply, we’re trying to leverage the best practices of other bases as we prepare our own.

The F-35 Lightning II flew in formation with two Typhoons in April 2014.

And of course, the experience, which you saw at Marham, is directly relevant. For example, when standing up Marham, the RAF had to look at modifications to their power grid.

Their experience alerted us to examine our own power situation, and we quickly learned we needed more capacity to beddown the F-35.

We would’ve gotten there eventually through the planning process, but we got there faster because we were talking to Marham.

Given our deterrence focus, getting their faster matters.

In short, our efforts to lay out the base is highly informed by lessons learned from other F-35 facilities.

Lt. Col. Vause: It is really nice to be able to follow the path of trailblazers and to leverage their real world operational experiences.

A United States Air Force (USAF) F-35A Lightning II (also known as the Joint Strike Fighter) climbs from the runway at Nellis Air Force Base during Exercise Red Flag 17-1. Credit: Royal Australian Air Force

And I would like to emphasize that the F-35 is active now and having impacts on Air Force and allied thinking from the outset.

When you were last here, it seemed that the F-35 was coming but had not landed.

Now it’s in the combat force and our pilots are getting the point of the significant impact it has.

They now understand that the challenge for legacy is to work with the F-35, and is not simply to operate as they have done in the past.

This is the challenge which needs to be met.

Flying with the RAF and its Typhoons and F-35s, or our F-15s with the F-35s, will be about shaping new integrated air combat capabilities.

Col. Pettus: The latest Red Flag is a case in point.

We are working hard on transforming the force.

Editor’s Note: For an interview last year with the team working on the infrastructure at RAF Lakenheath, see the following:

https://www.sldinfo.com/building-a-21st-century-base-at-raf-lakenheath-a-fifth-generation-infrastructure-for-a-fifth-generation-enabled-force/

Biography of Col. Evan Pettus

Col. Evan L. Pettus is the Commander of the 48th Fighter Wing at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, the only wing in the Air Force with an official name, the “Statue of Liberty Wing.”

The Liberty Wing consists of approximately 4,500 active-duty personnel and over 1,000 British and U.S. civilians. The wing includes a geographically-separated unit at nearby RAF Feltwell.

The wing employs three combat-ready squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagle and F-15C Eagle fighter aircraft, as well as a squadron of HH-60G Pave Hawk Combat Search and Rescue helicopters and a squadron of Guardian Angel pararescuemen.

Prior to assuming his current position, Col. Pettus was the Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, Operations, U.S. Forces Korea, where he helped direct and plan current and future operations for Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and Marines serving on the Korean peninsula.

Before serving in Korea, Col. Pettus was the Vice Commander, 4th Fighter Wing, Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C. He earned his wings upon graduating from Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard AFB, Texas, and was first stationed at RAF Lakenheath as an F-15E pilot.

Col. Pettus received his commission from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1994. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School and is a command pilot with more than 2,500 hours in the T-37, T-38, AT-38 and F-15E. He has flown combat missions in operations Northern Watch, Southern Watch, Allied Force, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom.

Col. Evan Pettus, the Commander of the 48th Fighter Wing at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England.

EDUCATION

1994 Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo.

2000 Squadron Officer School, Maxwell AFB, Ala.

2004 Master’s degree in business administration, Bellevue University, Neb.

2004 F-15E Weapons Instructor Course, Nellis AFB, Nev.

2005 Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence

2008 Master’s degree in logistics sciences, Air Force Institute of Technology, Ohio

2008 Air War College, by correspondence

2013 Master’s degree in strategic studies, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.

ASSIGNMENTS

  1. August 1994 – October 1995, student, Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training, Sheppard AFB, Texas
  2. October 1995 – April 1996, student, Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals, Sheppard AFB, Texas
  3. April 1996 – December 1996, student, F-15E Formal Training Unit, 334th Fighter Squadron, Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C.
  4. December 1996 – January 2000, F-15E pilot, mission planning officer and assistant chief of training, 492nd Fighter Squadron, RAF Lakenheath, England
  5. January 2000 – January 2002, air liaison officer, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Friedberg Army Installation, Germany
  6. January 2002 – July 2004, F-15E instructor pilot, flight commander, 391st Fighter Squadron, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
  7. July 2004 – December 2004, student, F-15E Weapons Instructor Course, Nellis AFB, Nev.
  8. December 2004 – August 2005, Chief of Wing Combat Training, 366th Operations Support Squadron, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
  9. August 2005 – March 2006, Chief of Wing Weapons and Tactics, 3rd Operations Support Squadron, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
  10. March 2006 – April 2007, Director of Operations, 90th Fighter Squadron, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska
  11. April 2007 – August 2008, student, Air Force Institute of Technology, Ohio
  12. August 2008 – February 2009, Assistant Director of Operations, 366th Operations Support Squadron, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
  13. February 2009 – July 2009, Director of Operations, 391st Fighter Squadron, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
  14. August 2009 – January 2011, Commander, 389th Fighter Squadron, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
  15. March 2011 – June 2012, Chief, Commander’s Action Group, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Ramstein Air Base, Germany
  16. July 2012 – May 2013, student, Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala.
  17. August 2013 – June 2014, Vice Commander, 4th Fighter Wing, Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C.
  18. July 2014 – July 2016, Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, Operations, U.S. Forces Korea
  19. July 2016 – present, Commander, 48th Fighter Wing, RAF Lakenheath, England

FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: command pilot

Flight hours: more than 2,500

Aircraft flown: T-37, T-38, AT-38, F-15E

Editor’s Note: In a story published on January 9, 2017 in Stars and Stripes, William Howard described the renovations at RAF Lakenheath:

Work on remodeling a central compound is expected to begin soon at RAF Lakenheath for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighters slated to begin arriving in 2021.

The U.S. Air Force in January 2015 announced RAF Lakenheath as its first base for the F-35 in Europe. The two squadrons of 54 F-35s will operate alongside two squadrons of F-15E Strike Eagles and a single unit of F-15Cs currently based there.

“We’re on track to bed down the F-35 here in the United Kingdom,” Col. Evan L. Pettus, commander of the 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath told Stars and Stripes Monday.

“RAF Lakenheath offers a combination of several advantages: We have close partnerships with the United Kingdom who will also be operating the F-35, we have fighter jet experience, we have the room and a good training space.”

While the current airfield won’t be altered, new construction is planned for a squadron operations and maintenance facility and an F-35 training simulator. Some of the ramps will be extended and existing support facilities are receiving upgrades.

The new facilities are designed not only for the incoming F-35s but also the 1,200 airmen who will accompany them.

Missions will continue as normal even after construction crews break ground, Pettus said.

“Current operations continue unabated,” he said. “We are capable as construction begins of manipulating our flow on the airfield so we’ll be able to train and maintain our readiness without interruption.”

The slideshow highlights the arrival of the F-35s at RAF Lakenheath and the photos are credited to the USAF.

ROYAL AIR FORCE BASE LAKENHEATH, UNITED KINGDOM

04.17.2017

Video by David Fitzroy

Defense Media Activity – Air Force