Representatives from the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Alaska National Guard, and Canada met at JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, this month for the Arctic general officer/flag officer conference. “The purpose of this GO/FO is to increase capabilities, bringing forces together from a variety of different components, joint and coalition, and to increase our collective capability,” said Lt. Gen. Russ Handy, commander of the Alaskan Command and Joint Task Force-Alaska, in a Jan. 27 release. During the conference, held Jan. 7-11, attendees toured JBER’s 176th Operations Group to learn about its combat search and rescue, tactical and strategic airlift, and air defense mission; viewed types of Arctic sustainment packages used by SAR forces in crisis scenarios; flew to Deadhorse, Alaska, for a tour of the Alaska Clean Seas oil spill response cooperative; and toured the US Army’s Northern Warfare Training Center’s black rapids training site for briefings and classes on Arctic resources and survival.
A recent seven-day exercise sent Air Force F-22s—along with other USAF aircraft—to austere, challenging environments across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Agile Reaper, taking place for the second time after its inaugural edition last year, featured 800 Airmen and 29 aircraft across five different locations from April 10-16, training…