Red Flag-Alaska 16-1 is underway at JB Elmendorf-Richardson and Eielson Air Force Base, with pilots working about 18 hours a day, five days a week on simulated combat missions in a realistic training environment. More than 1,000 people and up to 60 aircraft deployed to Eielson, with an additional 500 people and 40 aircraft deployed to JBER for the exercise, according to a JBER press release. This year the Indian Air Force is participating in the international air combat training exercise, while Indonesia and Chile are “working-level observers.” Each unit participating will have the chance to lead the planning and execution of at least one mission, Lt. Col. Dylan Baumgartner, commander of 364th Operations Group, Det. 1, said in the release. The exercise’s focus is to provide simulated combat missions to air crews to increase their “lethality and survivability in future conflicts,” he said.
Unit commanders are being told to separate service members who can’t shave their cheeks and chin for medical reasons for more than a year, according to new guidance from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
