Cope Thunder, first flown in 1976, provided air-to-air, air-to-ground, and combat support missions against a realistic set of real and simulated threats, say PACAF officials. “This Cope Thunder was our Air Expeditionary force spin-up for any tasking the Air Force needs us to support,” said Lt. Col. Dean Anderson, commander of the 18th Fighter Squadron, Eielson AFB, Alaska. During the two-week employment phase of the exercise, Anderson noted, every conceivable combat threat is thrown at the aircrews—many of them young pilots getting seasoned “without getting shot at.” For those who need more reality, some aircrews do get to practice getting rescued. Oh, yes, Blue won.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.