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Vigilant Ace 16 kicks off in the 'Draggins Lair'

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Amber Grimm
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  The night is dark and cold in the "Draggins Lair," but the 25th Fighter Squadron is on the move. It's the first night of Vigilant Ace 16, a peninsula-wide readiness exercise, and while the exercise is just beginning for most of the base, the flightline is already buzzing.

Aircraft maintenance crews, weapons, personnel and munitions experts came together to prepare A-10 Thunderbolt IIs for flight. The 51st Operations Group and 51st Maintenance Group have been practicing and prepping for the anticipated surge of aircraft generation required by the exercise for days leading up to the official start.

In addition to the base's A-10 and F-16 Fighting Falcon population, the skies of Osan will also be filled with U.S. Air Force C-130 Hercules, KC-135 Stratotanker and a C-17 Globemaster III from Kadena Air Base, Japan, and ROK Air Force F-15K Slam Eagle, KF-16s and F-4E Phantom from the ROK Air Bases Daegu, Cheongju, and Jungwon as well as U.S. Marines EA-6B Prowler from the Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan.

With such a wide variety of aircraft expected to participate in Vigilant Ace 16, aircrews will have the opportunity to train alongside the many different supporting crews from the ROKAF as well as U.S. forces across U.S. Pacific Command.