{"id":33817,"date":"2019-05-09T20:22:28","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T20:22:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/09\/10000-troops-gear-up-for-massive-pacaf-training-in-alaska\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:06:45","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:06:45","slug":"10000-troops-gear-up-for-massive-pacaf-training-in-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2019\/05\/09\/10000-troops-gear-up-for-massive-pacaf-training-in-alaska\/","title":{"rendered":"10,000 troops gear up for massive PACAF training in Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

U.S. Pacific Air Forces is about to launch a major training exercise at ranges in Alaska<\/a> and the Gulf of Alaska, that aims to sharpen how troops from multiple services work together during combat or other crises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northern Edge 2019<\/a>, a biennial joint exercise taking place from May 13 to 24, will include about 10,000 troops and 250 aircraft from the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, as well as five Navy ships, PACAF said in a Wednesday release. The Navy\u2019s contingent will include an aircraft carrier from the Pacific Fleet for the first time in a decade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It will be the largest military training exercise in Alaska<\/a> this year, and include participants from the continental United States and some installations in the Indo-Pacific area, as well as some virtual participants taking part elsewhere in the United States. The release did not say whether Army or Coast Guard personnel will take part in this exercise, but members of those services participated in the last Northern Edge in 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A U.S. Navy F\/A-18F Super Hornet of Air Test Squadron (VX) 9, China Lake, Calif., takes fuel from a U.S. Marine Corps KC-130J stationed in Iwakuni, Japan over the Gulf of Alaska while participating in Exercise Northern Edge June 22, 2015. Over 200 military aircraft from all services practiced operations, techniques and procedures while simultaneously enhancing interoperability during Exercise Northern Edge 2015 \u2013 Alaska\u2019s premier joint training exercise. (Lt. Edward Cartagena\/U.S. Navy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The nearly two-week exercise will also be much larger than Northern Edge 2017, which involved about 6,000 personnel and 175 fixed-wing aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PACAF said the exercise is meant to prepare joint forces to respond to events in the Indian and Pacific oceans, and is one of several U.S. Indo-Pacific Command exercises scheduled for 2019. Northern Edge is expected to help them improve their tactical combat skills and command, control and communication relationships, and to develop plans and programs for the joint forces to work together.<\/p>\n\n\n\t