Barksdale Airmen test ability during exericise

AFMS ^ | 5/10/2010 | Staff Sgt. John Gordinier

[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

Approximately 150 maintenance Airmen, 2nd Bomb Wing pilots and support members recently returned from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, where they participated in the 10-day Exercise Red Flag-Alaska.

The exercise is designed to provide realistic and demanding air-combat training to flying unit members from across the Air Force, Department of Defense and Allied nations.

"Everyone who participates (in the exercise) benefits greatly from the training," said Maj. Thomas Aranda, the 96th Bomb Squadron assistant director of operations. "The aviators enjoy some of the most realistic air-combat training available and the maintainers push the edge of the envelope by generating combat power under very tight timelines and challenging conditions."

Support personnel also benefit from the exercise by operating in a deployed environment and acquiring experience in providing expeditionary combat support to the joint war-fighter, the major said.

According to Major Aranda, there are two critical aspects of Red Flag: integration and realism.

Integration provides rare opportunities for combat Airmen from across the armed forces to meet and practice combat tactics together, Major Aranda said. This provides B-52 Stratofortress combat aviators valuable experience integrating with the rest of the combat air forces.

Captain A.J. Schrag, the 96th Bomb Squadron B-52 pilot, agreed.

"These types of exercises are fantastic," he said. "Any exercise with many people from many different backgrounds, unifying as one team, adds extreme value in mission capability and readiness."

"Integration also provides our escort fighters experience in protecting the bomber, which is something we want them to do well when we go to combat," Major Aranda said. "Our crews learn quite a bit from other units and they learn from us. It is a win-win situation."