Elmendorf opens multiplatform center

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Eric Badger
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AFPN) --  On Sept. 24, the 3rd Wing officially opened the Air Force’s first multiplatform mission training center that uses advanced technology to maximize operational effectiveness and combat capability.

The center will house multiple weapon systems simulators -- built and operated by multiple contractors for the Air Force -- under one roof.

The facility provides operational aircrews with a venue for high-fidelity, simulator-based training without the material and personnel costs associated with training deployments.

“The fact that the Air Force has chosen to invest this dynamic training tool here shows the commitment and strategic importance of keeping a highly trained force here in Alaska,” said Lt. Col. John Doneski, 3rd Operations Support Squadron commander. “The mission training center will give Elmendorf many capabilities not available in the past.”

The MTC is Pacific Air Force’s first step in the Air Force’s vision of distributed mission operations.

Under the DMO concept, 3rd Wing aircrews will have the opportunity to “train like they fight” by operating simulators at one location, while simultaneously training with aircrews at other locations hundreds, even thousands of miles away.

“While it is no substitute for live flying, DMO will enable 3rd Wing crews to be able to do a large force mission with aircraft throughout the United States without having to deploy crews and aircraft to another location,” Doneski said. “Training in a simulated environment will give all participants the ability to train together, providing synergy prior to deploying into harm’s way.”

For example, in the MTC, a 3rd Wing airborne warning and control system crew could control a simulated mission including 3rd Wing F-15 Eagles, F-15E Strike Eagles from a base in North Carolina, and F-16 Fighting Falcons from a base in Utah against a simulated adversary.

“The AWACS simulator will provide mission crews with the ability to meet training requirements that, until now, have had to be waived,” Doneski said.

Highly trained contractors standing ready to operate, maintain and instruct in the facility is another added bonus to the program, according to Richard Harris, Boeing contractor and Elmendorf’s MTC site manager.

“The presence of contract instructor pilots in the MTC will have a positive effect on the personnel tempo of 3rd Wing F-15C instructor pilots,” he said. “As former 3rd Wing airmen, our entire team here is intimately familiar with the air supremacy mission of the 12th and 19th Fighter Squadrons.”

The Elmendorf MTC includes a four-cockpit, F-15C simulator owned and operated by the Boeing Company; an F-15E Weapon System Trainer, owned by the Air Force, but operated and maintained by Boeing; and an AWACS Mission Crew Simulator, owned and operated by PLEXSYS.

According to wing officials, construction on a new Elmendorf MTC complex is tentatively scheduled to begin in 2006. By the following year, the new MTC is expected to accommodate various training activities, including: F-15C (four cockpits); F-15E (two cockpits); E-3 AWACS (one mission crew area); C-17 (one cockpit); F-15C and F-15E maintenance trainers; and a professional military education center.

Officials here said the complete DMO training program will eventually include most Air Force weapon systems. Future plans may also incorporate Army, Navy and Marine Corps platforms and command and control agencies.