Red Flag-Alaska training returns over Anchorage this month

Heavy military flying is set to return over Anchorage this month as Red Flag-Alaska 26-3 runs through Aug. 28. Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson's training and airspace page lists the exercise as beginning Aug. 17. Pacific Air Forces describes the exercise as commander-directed field training in a simulated combat environment.

That same JBER page sets the flying windows. "The morning airspace period usually occurs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with the Delta MOAs activated from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The evening airspace period usually occurs from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., with the Delta MOAs activated from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.," the page says. Those are usual windows, not a guaranteed daily schedule. The page directs pilots to Anchorage Center notices to airmen, or NOTAMs, for the actual activation times of the Delta military operating areas, or MOAs. It also flags Aug. 14 as a heavy flying day known as FAM Day.

Pacific Air Forces gives a different start date. Its Aug. 3 press release said the exercise is scheduled to begin Aug. 13, with flight operations over the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex through Aug. 28.

The previous iteration, Red Flag-Alaska 26-2, ended June 12. More than 2,100 service members and about 75 aircraft from the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand trained across roughly 120,000 square miles of airspace during that exercise.

JBER has issued noise advisories for past exercises. One Mountain View resident wrote online that jets had been flying low over their home every 30 seconds since early morning, describing the pattern as disruptive to sleep and daily life through the summer.