EXERCISE REPORT // ’NORTHERN LIGHTNING’
Although often overshadowed by ‘Red Flag’, the ‘Northern Lightning’ large force employment exercise is proving to be valuable and very popular. Combat Aircraft reports from the latest course, held in deepest Wisconsin.
WHEN THINKING OF large force employment (LFE) exercises that provide integration of fourthand ifth-generation assets with adversary and full-spectrum threat simulation, ‘Red Flag’ likely first comes to mind. It is perhaps the best-known, and is certainly the largest training deployment in terms of units and aircraft. However, ‘Northern Lightning’, held twice a year at the Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC) in Wisconsin, has become one of the premier exercises providing LFE and high-fidelity training tailored to meet specific needs at squadron or unit level.
In May 2018, ‘Northern Lightning’ earned accreditation through the Joint National Training Committee and is now part of the National Guard Bureau’s Regional Exercise Program. Col Chad Milne, exercise director, explained that being an accredited exercise, ‘brings us credibility, and it also brings our sister services, funding sources and exercise credit that they can get now by c…
