Increasingly complex mission in Arctic, Pacific theater, includes supporting F-35s, other 5th generation fighters
The Alaska Air National Guard announced Wednesday that the 168th Wing at Eielson Air Force Base will be getting four additional air-refueling tankers in the near future.
Alaska National Guard spokesperson Alan Brown said the agency was informed on Tuesday that Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall had approved assigning the four KC-135 tankers to the 168th Wing. The unit already has eight tankers based at Eielson.
Brown said in an email Wednesday the additional air tankers will help support the two squadrons of advanced F-35 jet fighters at Eielson. He added “The 168th Wing at Eielson is the only Alaska-based air refueling unit supporting one of the highest concentrations of 5th generation fighters anywhere in the world.”
Fairbanks North Star Borough Mayor Grier Hopkins said up to 220 servicemembers will be coming to the Eielson area in the coming year, along with the tankers.
“It’s really exciting news for our community as a whole and our nation’s security to be able to have these families and the infrastructure and airplanes coming to Fairbanks,” he said.
Brown said the new tankers will support Alaska-based Air Force units in both the Arctic and the greater Indo-Pacific region. He added “The operational environment in Alaska and the Arctic region is only getting more complex, so these additional aircraft will play a vital role in supporting the strategic mission across the region.”
But he said Air National Guard can’t yet say when the four air tankers will arrive at Eielson.
The Pentagon announced three years ago that it would move the tankers to Eielson in 2023, but then delayed their arrival. Now that the Air Force has affirmed its commitment, Hopkins credits the work of local officials as well as Sen. Dan Sullivan and his staff for hammering out the logistics of transferring the aircraft.
“We’ve worked very closely with the Air Force and the Department of Defense and Senator Sullivan’s office to make sure our community is ready when these airplanes and their associated service members comes to Fairbanks,” he said.
The mayor said the influx of servicemembers and their families will boost the local economy and, hopefully, the borough school district’s enrollment.
“We just had 630 students leave the school district this past year,” he said, “but the vast majority of those were military-related students. So this hopefully fills that gap, and helps our schools fill the classrooms that they’re going to need as they make tough decisions this year.”
Brown, the National Guard spokesperson, anticipates that some of the new personnel and their family members will reside on base and others will live in surrounding communities.
Editor’s note: KUAC’s Patrick Gilchrist contributed to this story.
