Teamwork, hard work transforming Alaska military forces

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Tim Hoffman
  • Alaska Command Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AFB, Alaska --  Alaska-based forces are fighting the global war on terror, protecting the homeland and preparing for the challenges of the future - and they are "excelling at those challenges because of their hard work, focused effort and spirit of cooperation," said Lt. Gen. Douglas Fraser, Alaskan Command commander. 

The general, who also commands Joint Task Force-Alaska, Alaskan NORAD Region, the 11th Air Force and oversees more than 23,000 military members in the state, said he has seen a lot of "great activity" in the year he has been in command. 

"For Alaskan Command, this summer we had a hugely successful Northern Edge exercise - 5,000 people, 120 aircraft, the first deployment overseas of the new F-22 aircraft - that showcased the Pacific Alaska Range Complex," said the general.
The PARC has approximately 68,000 square miles of training areas north and east of Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, making it the largest over land range in the United States. 

"Not only did we use the vast area of the PARC, but we were also able to build a similar training space over the Gulf of Alaska. This gave us two unique environments for people to fly and train in for the U.S. Pacific Command exercise. It also showcases the full-spectrum of training capability available when forces are deployed to Alaska. This combination of broad overland and maritime range space makes for a training area that I believe is the best anywhere." 

The general said there has been steady progress in enhancing the homeland defense mission by working closely with U.S. Northern Command.
"In March, the commander of Northern Command decided to stand up JTF-AK as a permanent joint task force - so we've been busy working on getting the manning and the staff to support that mission," said General Fraser. 

"Even with limited staff and funding we've pressed ahead with several small table top exercises with the emphasis on natural disasters," said General Fraser. "We are also preparing for the next Northern Edge exercise in May that will be focused on homeland defense. This one will be on a real-time basis in a full-blown exercise integrated with NORTHCOM, so we will really understand the connectivity between the two commands." 

In any downtown crisis, the response starts at the local level, then when they need help local government asks the state for help, and finally the state would ask for federal assistance when they get stretched beyond their capabilities - which may or may not involve military forces. 

"It's important for us all to work together, so we all know what one another's capabilities are as well as our vulnerabilities, " said the general. "We need to have an association before a major event so we know who to talk to, when to talk, and how to talk to describe what we need from each other. 

"We've worked through the process this year with a table top exercise focused on earthquake response that brought together not only federal organizations, but state and local governments and private business to explore what it would mean if there was a major earthquake that hit the Anchorage area," said General Fraser. "We learned there are vast capabilities in each of the sectors and we learned the value of sitting down face to face to work on our responses and processes." 

One mission area that already has highly honed responses is in the Alaskan NORAD Region. ANR completed the modernization of the regional air operations center in July and immediately put its new air surveillance and sovereignty tools into action.
"We have maintained superb readiness as we continue to maintain the defense of Alaska, said General Fraser. "The recent intercept of Russian bombers demonstrated our capability." 

The general was quick to point out that the intercept was different from the Cold War days. 

"About a year ago we met with the commander of the Russian 37th Air Army and they said they would give us more notification of their exercises - in this case they announced their exercise and we brought up our capability at the same time. This allows ANR to get good training without surprises because we are both talking about it."
As the 11th Air Force commander the general is excited with the scheduled arrival of new aircraft at Elmendorf and the changes taking place at Eielson.
"There are a lot of great things happening," said Fraser. "The F-22 has been scheduled to be based here, but last year the Chief of Staff (of the Air Force, Gen. T. Michael Moseley) decided to accelerate its arrival. So we've had to work to get ready to bed them down in the summer to early fall of 2007." 

The general also pointed out that at the same time they are working the C-17 bed down here and the base realignment and closure commission's mandated moves of the F-15s from Elmendorf and A-10s from Eielson.
The Air Force has also worked hard this year at bettering the training opportunities in Alaska. 

"We've adopted the Red Flag name for what were our Cope Thunder exercises. The goal is to make the training quality of Red Flag the same whether you are going to Nellis (Air Force Base, Nevada) or here. 

"We've hosted three Red Flags this year and there is a lot of capability here. We are not building another Nellis, because we have a different environment, different capability and different training outcomes; but each location will offer a compatible and comparable experience." 

The other big challenge directed by BRAC is the combining of Fort Richardson and Elmendorf into one installation. 

"Now is the right time to do this - with the arrival of the new aircraft at Elmendorf and with Kulis (Air National Guard Base) directed to move here by BRAC, combined with plus up of Army units on Richardson, it gives us a unique opportunity to do this right and in a very positive way." 

A joint installation office has been established and is charged with looking at "what is the realm of the possible," said the general. 

"Even with everything on the table it is obvious that certain missions will still be very Army focused. Units like the 4th (Brigade Combat Team) of the 25th (Infantry Division) - will not integrate with the Air Force," said Fraser. "The same thing with the F-22 units - especially operations, maintenance - will not integrate with the Army. Both units will support the other service's missions, but it won't be an integrated joint capability.
"So we're really focusing on the support side of the house," said the general. "From military police and security forces to morale, welfare and recreation we are trying to understand the differences between the Army garrison and the Air Force's mission support groups and the best way to operate and integrate." 

The general said they are using many good tools to make the integration work.
"We are using both services' improvement processes - the Army's six sigma and Air Force's Smart Ops 21 - to find the best solutions for integration," said the general. "We are finding there are some things that are easy. We already have a joint fire department and joint mobility complex. Other things will take more work and training to blend and there will be some things that just don't make sense to combine. We are going through on a case-by-case basis and we will do the smart thing. 

"I believe we can show the rest of DoD what it means to be a joint installation. We have that level of cooperation and teamwork here in Alaska." 

Not to be lost in all the mission and equipment moves are the people. 

"We continue to work hard at improving the quality of life and to keep the focus on our people," said General Fraser. "We really need to zero in on the care we provide our Soldiers, Airmen, Marines and Sailors, who are returning from deployments. Quite frankly, the Army does a better job at this because whole units deploy together. The Air Force and to lesser extent the Navy, often deploy as individuals. Sometimes we just assume they are integrated back into the unit and we forget to check up on them. We forget that they have been in a combat environment for four months to more than a year. We forget that they may have adverse effects from the concussions of IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and other wartime perils. Now, we are trying to understand what it means in the long term to have that experience and figure out if there will be long term impacts to people's health." 

Although the general is concerned about the health of returned combat veterans, he is not worried about the work ethic of the troops. 

"I consistently see how hard our people are working and how well everyone is doing their job in spite of the turmoil around them. They just jump on board and make the mission happen. 

"I also urge everyone to embrace change - now is our opportunity to assess what we are doing right, and not doing so well, then to make the changes that make it positive for everyone. 

"Finally, because of the spirit of cooperation within organizations, across organizations, across services, across installations, across federal and state agencies, I believe there's no better place to work and live than Alaska," said the general.