JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- March 29 signals the beginning of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson’s bi-annual Polar Force mission readiness exercise.
People who live and work on or near the installation may notice increased air traffic, emergency vehicle activity, sirens, loudspeaker announcements, alert notifications and longer wait times at the gates during the exercise, which concludes April 9.
Polar Force is a two-week exercise designed to test JBER’s mission readiness. This exercise will strengthen and develop the skills service members require when facing adverse situations and austere conditions.
The exercise is designed to test personnel to determine how proficient they are in rapidly responding to a variety of scenarios to include simulating deployment of JBER personnel.
The lessons learned during the next two weeks will indicate where to make adjustments to ensure military personnel remain mission-ready in the event they are called upon to defend our nation.