Vigilant Ace 16 puts Misawa to the test

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Patrick Ciccarone
  • 35th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  The sound of wrenches turning and engines roaring early in the morning signaled the beginning of exercise Vigilant Ace 16 here, Nov. 1.

Vigilant Ace is a large-scale exercise designed to enhance the interoperability of U.S. and Republic of Korea Air Forces, while also testing the readiness of U.S. forces operating in the Pacific region to support wartime taskings. For Airmen at Misawa, the exercise has been geared towards measuring their response and procedures for deployment and combat contingency operations.

"The exercise helps us practice to make sure we're on point with every regulation," said Tech. Sgt. Timothy Thomas, 35th Logistics Readiness Squadron NCO in charge of outbound cargo movement. "We get a chance to take a look at things we're doing and what we could be doing better."

Under a new means of conducting exercises within Pacific Air Forces, Misawa Airmen no longer simulate boarding an aircraft bound for the ROK. Instead, they are now placed into groups called chalks and taken to their deployed location via airlift.

"Vigilant Ace is an enhancement of the old operational readiness exercise, or ORE," said Col. Timothy Sundvall, 35th Fighter Wing commander. "What's different now is that several PACAF wings hold their OREs at the same time."

Through exercising simultaneously, each wing is now able to execute their individual missions, while also synchronizing with the missions of other wings.

Yokota has an airlift wing whose wartime mission is to get people and cargo to the fight, said Sundvall.  Misawa has a fighter wing that generates and flies F-16s to the fight, but needs airlift to move maintainers and equipment forward to sustain combat operations. In South Korea, Kunsan and Osan AB fight in-place, while also accepting and integrating large numbers of inbound forces and aircraft.

"Exercising at the same time allows us all to practice our wartime missions," Sundvall added. "Yokota doesn't simulate moving cargo; they actually move it.  Misawa doesn't pretend to be fighting from a forward location, the old 'Base X' construct; we actually deploy forward and exercise forward as those who stay behind exercise our in-place mission.  Bases on the Peninsula don't simulate receiving inbound forces; they receive, bed down and integrate actual forces.  It is a win-win for all involved."

Before 35 FW F-16 Fighting Falcons took to the skies, bound for their exercise destination in the ROK, members from the 35 LRS set up the cargo deployment function line where Misawa Airmen process for deployments.

"Any cargo and personnel that comes out of Misawa headed for a destination are sent there by us," said Thomas.

Airmen and augmentees arrived with overnight and chemical bags in tow, along with personnel files containing information like emergency contacts, vaccination lists and existing conditions.

The main priority is ensuring personnel and our assets are shipped accordingly and efficiently, Thomas said.

While 35 LRS Airmen loaded cargo and personnel, crews from the 35th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron's 13th and 14th Aircraft Maintenance Units simultaneously prepped F-16s in order to send them to the Korean Peninsula.

"It puts on extra stress, which is a good reason to go through these exercise scenarios," said Tech. Sgt. Pablo Jimenez, 13th AMU crew chief expeditor. "It helps us get used to that stress. We don't want to rush around and miss items; the point is to do it with a sense of urgency and pay attention to the details."

Having exercised Misawa's ability to generate aircraft and meet deployment taskings, Vigilant Ace 16 continues here as Airmen put their force sustainment and reception capabilities to the test.