The 354th Fighter Wing recently conducted Arctic Gold 23-2, an exercise designed to practice the wing’s ability to sustain F-35 Lightning II operations from multiple, simulated, deployed locations.

The exercise lasted from April 17 to April 23.

The 354th Fighter Wing is the northernmost U.S. fighter wing in the world, and it is the host unit at Eielson Air Force Base and is assigned to 11th Air Force, headquartered at Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage.

“The goal of this exercise was to showcase the wing’s ability to employ and sustain F-35 operations across multiple locations using the Agile Combat Employment concept,” said Todd Parks, 354th Fighter Wing exercise program director, in a news article from the US Air Force.

“This exercise allowed us to train power projection from our strategic arctic location to effectively deploy combat-ready fifth-generation airpower," he added.

Arctic Gold 23-2 was the first readiness exercise a Pacific Air Forces unit conducted under the ACE concept. Agile Combat Employment is a key operating concept for how the U.S. Air Force will fly and fight in a modern, contested environment.