Photo By Staff Sgt. Samuel Earick | U.S. Air National Guard Airman 1st Class Jake Landy, 108th Air Maintenance Squadron...... read more read more
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska–Exercise Red Flag-Alaska 25-2 provides Airmen an opportunity to work with joint and coalition partners, simulating what serving in a deployed environment may look like within the Indo-Pacific region.
The exercise is based out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Eielson Air Force Base, both in Alaska, and presents U.S. military and allied forces simulated combat scenarios in which they can work together and improve tactics and interoperability.
During the two execution weeks, the main focus is for pilots to get in the air and work with the Air Force’s allies, but the unsung heroes of the exercise, the ones who ensure aircraft are operational and ready to fly, are the maintenance Airmen.
“Operating in a simulated deployed environment, where resources are limited and our personnel are limited, is a good chance for many of our Airmen to train under less than optimal situations,” said U.S. Air National Guard Senior Master Sgt. John Allen, 108th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron avionics superintendent, assigned to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey.
The importance of regularly exercising helps Airmen maintain readiness required to effectively carry out the mission in real-world situations.
“Exercises like these are extremely important for us,” said U.S. Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Richard Weaver, 108th AMXS avionics technician. “It gives us a chance to practice as if we are in a deployed environment, with the bare bones and being able to generate aircraft to get the mission done,”
For some, this exercise offers a first glimpse into what a deployed environment may look like.
U.S. Air National Guard Airman 1st Class Jake Landy, 108th AMXS KC-46A Pegasus crew chief arrived at RF-A 25-2 with excitement as this will be his first exercise experience.
“Being here is exciting,” said Landy. “I'm curious and excited to see how the exercise pans out. It's so cool to see so many different aircraft and see how things would look in a deployed environment.”
While the environment are a stark difference from New Jersey to Alaska, Weaver said the crux of the mission remains the same.
“There has not been much difference in our day-to-day operations,” said Weaver. “The mission has to go first and foremost. We need to generate aircraft and get the mission done because the jets are going to need refueling at some point, and we're going to be there to do it.”
Throughout the exercise, the 108th AMXS team has been consistently working to ensure the Aircraft are ready when needed to ensure mission success.
“The team has been performing exceptionally well,” said Allen. "All the maintainers are working together to launch, recover and fix any issues that arise on the aircraft, they are all of the same mentality that the mission comes first and we work together to get it done.”
| Date Taken: | 06.21.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.21.2025 01:27 |
| Story ID: | 501181 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, ALASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 23 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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