Focus on Pacific Theater and Agile Combat Employment: Exclusive Interviews with F-35 Pilots of Northern Lightning 2024 | Aviation

The annual two week long Northern Lightning exercise located at Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center in Wisconsin commenced last week.  This year’s event has some noticeable changes, such as the physical inventory of the air assets located at Volk, as well as the format of the daily sorties.

The changes that were observed fall in line with the overall theme that was publicly announced by the exercise director, prior to the start of Northern Lightning 2024. In summary, it was stated that the exercise focus would entail using agile combat employment schemes, that replicate operational assumptions, in the Pacific theater.

What this translated to was a slimmed down presence of aircraft on the ramp at Volk Field.  In addition, home basing for some participating Air National Guard F-35A’s. This resulted in longer missions for the home based aircraft.  Furthermore, first time employment of the F-35C, as well as establishing a contingency location for the F-35A’s from the Wisconsin Air National Guard, from nearby Truax Field, to Volk Field.

Many of the above mentioned observations are concepts that are core to Agile Combat Employment (ACE).  Such as:

1. The use of dispersed locations, as seen with the Wisconsin F-35A’s from the 115th Fighter Wing, moving operations to Volk Field from home base, Truax Field, Wisconsin.
2. Home basing the Vermont ANG F-35A’s from…