The US Pacific Air Forces hosted exercise Northern Edge 2019 (NE19) kicked off on and above central Alaska ranges and the Gulf of Alaska on May 13.
Personnel from US military units stationed in the continental United States and from US installations in the Indo-Pacific will participate with approximately 250 aircraft from all services, and five US Navy ships.
For the first time in 10 years, a Pacific Fleet aircraft carrier will be participating in the exercise.
Joining the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and its embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW 11) for the exercise are destroyers USS Russell (DDG 59), USS Kidd (DDG 100), and USS John Finn (DDG 113), and replenishment oiler USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO 187).
Approximately 10,000 US military personnel will serve as part of a joint task force, which will help enhance multi-service integration and exercise a wide range of joint capabilities.
NE19 is one in a series of US Indo-Pacific Command exercises in 2019 that prepares joint forces to respond to crises in the Indo-Pacific. The exercise is designed to sharpen participants’ tactical combat skills, to improve command, control and communication relationships, and to develop interoperable plans and programs across the joint force.
NE19 is the largest military training exercise scheduled in Alaska this year with virtual and live participants from all over the United States exercising alongside live players.