U.S., Japanese jets soar through stormy
skies during Cope North exercise
By Donovan Brooks, Guam
bureau chief
Donovan Brooks / Stars and Stripes
Lt. Col. Jeff Lofgren gets an assist from crew chief Staff Sgt. Matthew Winters on Tuesday
before taking off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, for a training mission in his F-16. |
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam — U.S. and Japanese fighter jets
added their own thunder to Guam’s cloudy skies Wednesday.
Participating in the annual Cope North exercise, U.S. Air Force F-16s
and Japan Air Self Defense Force F-15s held aerial combat training, despite a lightning
strike on a Japanese E-767 AWACS aircraft Tuesday morning.
The Japanese AWACS was carrying about 20 people when lightning hit it
around 8:15 a.m., shortly after takeoff from Andersen Air Force Base.
No one was injured, and no damage to the plane was reported.
“Other than a brown mark near the plane’s tail, there was
no detectable damage,” 5th Air Force spokeswoman Capt. Richelle Dowdell said, adding
that the aircraft flew on Wednesday. Andersen stops operations if lightning is detected
within 5 miles of the airfield, but the plane was hit outside the 5-mile radius, Dowdell
said.
More than 500 aircraft sorties were planned for the two-week
exercise, which ends this week. Cope North is designed to provide air-to-air combat
training, familiarize participants with working from a forward base, and improve U.S. and
Japanese ability to work together.
Although rainy weather in the region has limited flight operations,
the exercise is proceeding smoothly, said Maj. Anton Komatz, an exercise planner.
About 550 troops and 35 jets and AWACS planes from both countries are
participating in the exercise.
Donovan Brooks / Stars and Stripes
Lt. Col. Jeff Lofgren sits in his Air Force F-16 on Tuesday before taking off from
Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, for a training mission. The Air Force and the Japan Air
Self Defense Force are participating in exercise Cope North, training in aerial warfare. |
Exercise director Col. Don Weckhorst, commander of the 605th Air
Operations Group at Yokota Air Base, Japan, said he found the JASDF participants very
professional and extremely disciplined. Weckhorst flew a combat training mission on Monday
with JASDF members.
While the Japanese pilots are training in some offensive missions
— such as escorting fighters and bombers — the focus of the training is to give
them an understanding of enemy tactics, said Master Sgt. Jon Hanson, base spokesman.
“They train as hard or harder than we do. There’s no doubt
in my mind that we could do great work together” in a real-world mission, Weckhorst
said.
The two countries use Guam for the training because the region offers
unrestricted airspace, Komatz said.
Pilots — who also are using the Navy’s Farrallon de
Mendinilla bombing range about 150 miles to the north — also have a variety of
recovery fields in an emergency, he said.
Donovan Brooks / Stars and Stripes
A Japan Air Self Defense Force F-15 tucks its landing gear away as it takes off Tuesday
from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, for a training mission. |
U.S. personnel and F-15Js, F-16s, E3Bs and KC-135s from the 18th Wing
at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan, and the 35th Fighter Wing at Misawa Air Base, Japan,
along with their counterparts from the JASDF’s 2nd Air Wing at Hokkaido Air Base,
Japan, are participating in this year’s exercise. Marine Corps aviators and EA-6Bs
from VMAQ-2 at Kadena had early roles in the exercise.
Cope North was first held in 1978. This is the third time the
exercise has been held on Guam.
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