Authored by Nicholas Slayton via Task & Purpose,
The Air Force sent several F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter jets to a remote part of the western Aleutian Islands this month, as part of a wider North American Aerospace Defense Command exercise. The deployment was notable as it was the first time in years that fighter jets were at Eareckson Air Station in an air defense alert role.
The use of the station on Shemya Island for this role comes as the U.S. looks to expand its abilities to rapidly move forces to remote or austere spots in the Arctic.
The F-16s were on Shemya, a tiny island sitting in the Bering Sea in the western part of the Aleutian Islands, as part of Operation Noble Defender, NORAD announced on Friday, Oct. 30. The operation, which started in mid-October and wrapped Oct. 26, saw American and Canadian fighter jets and refueling planes stage around Alaska and Alberta, Canada. It culminated on Oct. 25 with a large-scale air exercise called Operation Noble Eagle. It involved two F-16s, F-35 Lightning IIs assigned to Eielson Air Force Base, an E-3 Sentry from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Canadian fighter jets, and multiple refueling tankers.
As NORAD noted, Eareckson Air Station is roughly 1,600 miles away from Eielson. Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert D. Davis, the commander for the Alaskan NORAD Region, noted the need to "bring combat power together across vast distances."
"Operating from Eareckson Air Station proved we can deploy to an austere location, maintain alert, launch on short notice, and seamlessly integrate U.
