Photo Gallery Summer 2001.html

Another important initiative of OPERATION KUTER is the consolidation of the key components of an Aerospace Operations Center (AOC) in Hawaii. The AOC is the senior element of the Air Force’s Theater Air Control System and is tasked to prosecute aerospace operations across the full spectrum of military operations; military operations other than war through major theater war. This AOC will become a Joint or Coalition Aerospace Operations Center when our sister services and/or coalition partners are part of the operations we are supporting. By bringing all elements of the AOC together at one location, we can effectively organize, train and equip our people to support aerospace operations throughout the Pacific region and the world.

An E-3B Sentry Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) aircraft accompanied by an F-15E Strike Eagle, a C-130H Hercules, and two F-15C Eagles fly near Mount McKinley, Alaska.

Photo by Mark Farmer

An HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter delivers U.S. and Philippine Air Force pararescue personnel during a combined exercise in the Philippines.

Photo by MSgt. Val Gempis, USAF

PACAF exercises regularly with allied and friendly air forces of the Asia-Pacific region, such as this combined Singapore-U.S. air exercise from Paya Lebar Air Base in Singapore.

Photo by MSgt. Val Gempis, USAF

Working together in combined air exercises hones the skills of all participants, as in this cooperative drop zone establishment during a combined Philippines-U.S. exercise in the Philippines.

Photo by MSgt. Val Gempis, USAF

The final OPERATION KUTER initiative is the establishment of a Contingency Response Squadron at Andersen AFB, Guam. This lean, quick-response team is designed to rapidly deploy to any location in the Pacific, establish an operational airfield and reach back to PACAF senior leaders with a first-hand assessment of the situation. Through this reach-back information conduit, we can make smarter decisions on how to tailor our follow-on forces for a quick decisive engagement, whether that’s armed conflict or humanitarian relief.

OPERATION KUTER enhances the command’s capability to characterize and monitor any situation that generates a potential for the application of aerospace power. It also provides a broader capability to smoothly and rapidly transition from peacetime procedures into contingency operations anywhere in the command’s AOR. The on-going operation in East Timor is an excellent example of the type of Pacific region contingency we have learned lessons from and are applying to the KUTER initiatives.

In East Timor, without airpower, transportation of supplies to the country would have been slow, cumbersome, and ineffective. Through the use of airlift, medical supplies and relief personnel were on the ground and operational within 72 hours of receiving the deployment order. After the situation was brought under control by the Australian-led international response force, PACAF troops and aircraft continued to fly missions bringing supplies to the impoverished people of the restored island nation. This enabled peace to take hold and provide a real chance for the nation’s success as a new member of the Asia-Pacific region.

Lacking a security structure such as NATO, we all continue to benefit from PACAF’s efforts to engage in building multilateral agreements among Asia-Pacific nations. We do this largely by sharing information with nations of the Pacific in military-to-military exchanges. One such exchange brought medical personnel from the Vladivostok region of Russia to Hawaii so they could learn some techniques our doctors were using at the U.S. Army’s Tripler Medical Facility. We in turn sent doctors to their home in Russia to see how they handled similar situations. This military-to-military contact has built an on-going friendship and exchange between two former Cold War adversaries – one that will go far toward improving our citizens’ lives and trusted relations between our two countries.

We have also actively sought multi-national agreements on search-and-rescue responses throughout the region. These agreements have significantly improved our ability to rescue people from ocean vessels or downed aircraft in the Pacific. Success is largely dependent on how quickly aircraft can reach the area of the incident. Without multi-national agreements in place, it would be difficult at best to realize the achievements we currently enjoy.

It is also very important that the men and women assigned to PACAF regularly hone their skills alongside our Pacific partners, enhancing our ability to work side-by-side in a wide variety of contingency operations. We do this by participating in various joint and combined exercises throughout the region. Exercises like COPE THUNDER in Alaska, COPE NORTH in Japan, TANDEM THRUST in Australia, COBRA GOLD in Thailand, and COMMANDO SLING in Singapore, enable our people and the service members of these and other partnered nations to hone their skills using the latest technologies.

A key area for this training lies in the Alaskan airspaceranges. These premier aerospace combat ranges are among the largest in the world spanning more than 1.5 million acres. They have played host to many combined exercises like NORTHERN EDGE and COOPERATIVE COPE THUNDER where participants from many Western and South Pacific nations have trained alongside U.S. aircraft and people.

The wide-open airspace enables these forces to conduct realistic air combat exercises, practicing their skills just as they would in actual combat.

Our mission is to provide ready aerospace power to promote U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region during peacetime, through crisis, and in war. It is a mission the men and women of PACAF are committed to fulfilling – and as you can see, we are making great strides toward becoming a truly flexible and multi-faceted aerospace force.