Japanese forces arrive for Red Flag-Alaska

by Staff Sgt. Shawn J. Jones
Red Flag-Alaska Public Affairs

7/16/2007 - EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AFPN) -- Airmen from the Land of
the Rising Sun arrived in the Land of the Midnight Sun July 11 in
preparation for the Red Flag-Alaska air combat training exercise.

After a seven-hour flight across the Pacific Ocean, six Japanese F-15s from
Hyakuri Air Base near Tokyo and a U.S. KC-10 Extender carrying 21 Japan Air
Self-Defense Force members landed at Eielson Air Force Base under Alaska's
sunlit midnight sky.

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More than 125 Japanese airmen will work and fly alongside an international
force from Mongolia, Spain, Thailand, Turkey and the United States from July
12 to 27.

The massive land area and varied terrain of the Pacific Alaskan Range
Complex, the largest training range in America, provides a vital training
environment different from the Japanese airmen's homeland.

The landmass of Japan is comparable to the size of California, but the
country consists of thousands of islands. The natural landscape of Japan
results in a significant proportion of its airspace being located above
water.

Training at the complex allows the Japanese Airmen to train in airspace
conditions that parallel the settings of ongoing modern conflicts, said Col.
Kyuichiro Tanaka, the flight commander of Red Flag-Alaska' s Japanese forces.

The air-to-air combat training of Red Flag-Alaska is expected to provide an
almost-real combat experience for Japanese F-15 aircrews. Aggressor
squadrons are allied units that adopt the traits, tactics and tendencies of
enemy air forces to provide a training environment more realistic than
training against traditional allied units.

This is the first time airmen from the Japanese Air Self-Defense Force will
train against an aggressor squadron, Colonel Tanaka said.

Training at Red Flag-Alaska also gives Japanese airmen an opportunity to
exchange tactics and techniques with their cohorts from other nations.

"Red Flag-Alaska fosters military-to- military communication at both the
officer and enlisted levels that will help to improve the relationships of
the countries involved," said Lt. Col. Brett Pauer, the director of
operations for Red Flag-Alaska.

Though the JASDF participates in an annual training exercise with the U.S.
Air Force in Japan and regularly receives air-refueling support from U.S.
aircraft, they have less experience in a multinational environment. Colonel
Tanaka said the cross-military communication of Red Flag-Alaska will help
provide that experience.

Red Flag-Alaska' s multinational participation and the addition of the
Pacific Alaskan Range Complex assets provide realistic combat training in a
safe and controlled setting.

"In addition to training on a spectacular range in realistic combat
scenarios, we also get the opportunity to exercise with our international
partners, which in and of itself is extremely beneficial," said Col. Daniel
DeBree, the Red Flag deployed forces commander.

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