US Air Force F-35A Lightning II assigned to the 388th Fighter Wing, Hill Air Force Base, Utah, soars overhead during RED FLAG-Alaska (RF-A) 20-3 at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. Credit: Airman 1st Class Aaron Larue Gue.

The Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), a major command of the US Air Force (USAF), has completed RED FLAG-Alaska 20-3 exercise.

As part of the exercise, the participants conducted approximately 560 sorties, completing nearly 1,500 flying hours.

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The exercise was designed to help the pilots hone their skills and boost combat confidence.

353rd Combat Training Squadron commander Lt Col Gregory Hunger said: “The exercise went amazing. We had a lot of challenges, the biggest one being Covid-19, but we were able to overcome that.

“We were able to reduce the footprint of Covid-19 without sacrificing the training and the high-end combat capability that participants will walk away with.”

RED FLAG-Alaska is a series of PACAF-directed field training exercises that involves providing counter-air, interdiction, close air support and large force employment training to the forces in a simulated combat environment.

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Usually, the planning of RED FLAG-Alaska begins eight months before the exercise. However, this time, the forces had a shorter time period to prepare.

Hunger added: “For this exercise, it was six weeks prior when we were given the ‘go-ahead’ and what the units were going to be doing.

“The team at the 353rd CTS and the whole 354th Fighter Wing pitched in to make it happen.”

In the two-week-long exercise, the participating aircraft included of F-35A Lightning IIs from Eielson, Hill AFB from Utah and F-22 Raptors from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska.

Additionally, B-1 Lancers and KC-135 Stratotankers supported combat scenarios in the exercise.