Volk Field to host Northern Lightning exercise

June 5, 2015

Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center in Camp Douglas, Wisconsin, is scheduled to host aircraft and personnel from multiple Air National Guard and active duty units as part of the annual Northern Lightning combat training exercise June 8-19.

The two-week long event will provide participating Airmen with valuable training in large-force aircraft employment against a near-peer adversary, incorporating the first use of contract aggressor aircraft in a National Guard Bureau exercise.

According to Lt. Col. Christopher Hansen, CRTC director of operations, Volk Field is uniquely suited to support training exercises such as Northern Lightning.

'Our airspace supports being able to fly interdiction missions against robust surface and air-to-air threats, get to a bombing range where they can employ ordnance, then be faced with a requirement to fight their way home," Hansen said. 'The units will all gain combat training to a level commensurate with a Red Flag exercise, at a very significant cost savings."

Units scheduled to participate in the 2015 exercise include the 128th Air Refueling Wing from Milwaukee, 115th Fighter Wing from Madison, Wisconsin, the 148th Fighter Wing from Duluth, Minnesota, the 138th Fighter Wing from Tulsa, Oklahoma, the 162nd Fighter Wing from Tucson, Arizona, the 266th Range Squadron from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Ohio, and the 38th Reconnaissance Squadron from Offutt AFB, Nebraska.

The general public can expect to see a significant increase in aircraft activity in and around the Camp Douglas area June 8-19, to include 24-hour flying operations June 12-14. The exercise will incorporate limited low-level flying during daylight hours, and late night flying within Volk Field's training airspace.

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