Japanese fighters join Alaskan exercise

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Jon K. Scudder
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AFPN) --  Fighters from the Japanese air self-defense force touched down on North American soil for the first time to take part in an exercise. Cooperative Cope Thunder, a Pacific Air Forces-sponsored air-combat training exercise, is set for June 5 to 20.

“The Japanese involvement is very significant in the fact that of all the foreign participants, they bring the biggest contingent of people and different missions to this exercise,” said Lt. Col. David Ennis, commander of Detachment 1 of the 353rd Combat Training Squadron here.

More than 1,675 people will participate at Alaska’s Elmendorf and Eielson Air Force bases, including approximately 980 U.S. servicemembers and 695 servicemembers from Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, India and NATO. About 275 Japanese will also participate.

Japanese Lt. Col. Kazuhiko Murakami said he is looking forward to the exercise.

“Cope Thunder will provide a very good training environment,” said Murakami. “We have a very limited area (in Japan) and here we can conduct more actual training,” referring to Alaska’s vast 66,000 square miles of military airspace.

The Japanese are bringing three separate airframes with three different missions to Elmendorf -- command and control with the E-767, airlift with three C-130s, and defensive counter-air with six F-15Js -- as well as a short-range air defense ground unit to Eielson AFB.

Murakami said the experience of deploying and interacting with a U.S. Air Force tanker will be good training.

Ennis echoed the benefits of integrating the two air forces.

“All of these platforms will be working hand-in-hand with counterparts from the United States in both the blue (friendly) force and the red (opposition) force roles, so they will be affecting every piece of the exercise -- that is significant,” said Ennis.

Japan will participate together with U.S. forces in “defensive counter-air” missions as a bilateral partner. Japan will not directly participate with forces of other nations, which will all be flying “offensive counter-air” missions during the exercise, according to Ennis.

Some of the goals Cope Thunder participants hope to gain include sharpening air combat skills, exchanging air-operations tactics and promoting closer relations among participating countries.

The mock battles are taped, and during a daily debriefing, technicians from the 353rd CTS point out tactics the pilots performed well, along with those that could get them killed in a real war.

“We give the participants, including the U.S., the opportunity to work together as if a coalition was set up to counter a common threat with a common military objective,” said Ennis. “Any experience gained before having to be tested with real bullets flying is beneficial to all participants.”

He added that the experience gained working with coalition partners in a training environment would be critical to a successful real-world operation, particularly the logistics involved in deploying to and operating out of a foreign base.

Although this exercise marks the first time Japanese fighters have participated, Cope Thunder has been around for several years.

It was first held in 1976 at Clark Air Base, Philippines, but moved to Alaska in 1992 when Mount Pinatubo erupted, forcing the closure of Clark.

Since then, thousands of people from all four military services, as well as armed services from around the world, have taken part in the training.