SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- RAZOR TALON 23-1, an agile combat employment focused exercise, kicked-off July 24, at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., and various locations throughout the southeast region.
“During RAZOR TALON, the 4th Fighter Wing will operate as the 4th Air Expeditionary Wing,” said Capt. Sebastian Kaiser, RAZOR TALON exercise director. “This will test our ability to generate combat air power while continuing to move, maneuver, and sustain the 4th AEW and subordinate force elements in a dynamic and contested environment.”
Throughout the exercise the 4th AEW will command and control multiple aircraft to include Air Combat Command’s F-15E Strike Eagles, 4th FW, E-3 Sentry from the 963rd and 964 Airborne Air Control Squadrons, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., T-38 Talon from the 1st FW, Joint Base Langley Eustis, Va., Air Force Global Strike Command’s B-52 Stratofortress, 2nd Bomb Wing, Barksdale AFB, La., Air Mobility Command’s C-17 Globemaster III from 436th Airlift Wing, Dover AFB, De., C-130J Super Hercules, 19th AW, Little Rock AFB, Ark., Air Force Reserve Command’s C-17 445th AW, KC-46A Pegasus from the 916th Air Refueling Wing, Seymour Johnson AFB, KC-135 Stratotankers from the 434th ARW, Grissom AFB, Ind., and the 459th ARW, JB Andrews, Va., and the Air National Guard’s KC-135 from the 101st ARW, Bangor AFB, Maine., and 121st ARW, Rickenbacker AFB, Ohio.
Additionally, the 4th AEW will integrate with Draken International’s A-4K Skyhawks and Mirage F1, U.S. Marine Corps’ Marine Aircraft Group 14, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., and MAG-31 from MCAS Beaufort, S.C., and the U.S. Army’s 1st Battalion, 7th Air Defense Artillery from Ft. Liberty, N.C., and AMC’s 621st Contingency Response Wing, JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., to deliver combat air power all while operating from dispersed location with contested logistics.
RAZOR TALON 23-1 provides an opportunity for Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Region personnel from the Eastern and Western Air Defense Sectors to continue to optimize their command and control procedures in support of the defence of North America.
Imagery of the exercise is publicly available through the Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS) at the following link: www.dvidshub.net/feature/RazorTalon23.
Any questions about RAZOR TALON can be directed to 4th FW Public Affairs at 4fw.pa@us.af.mil.