Cope Thunder is back after a hiatus of 33 years

Cope Thunder, an exercise sponsored by Pacific Air Force, has been revived and will take place at Clark Air Force Base, Philippines from May 1.

Members of the Philippine Air Force prepare to conduct hot pit refueling during a Subject Matter Expert Exchange event at Clark Air Base, Philippines, January 26, 2023. Throughout the five-day event, PACAF Airmen discussed various topics with their PAF counterparts such as: explosive safety, expeditionary munitions storage, protective facility designs, logistics to move the force from one location to another, hot pit operations, flying hour programs and maintenance scheduling among many others. (Courtesy photo)

Started in the Philippines in 1976, the exercise was moved to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska in 1992 after the eruption of Mount Pinatubo on Jun. 15, 1991 forced the closure of Clark Air Base. Cope Thunder in Alaska was later renamed as Red Flag-Alaska in 2006.

The U.S. Air Force will dispatch 12 aircraft from the 35 Fighter Wing, Misawa Air Base, Japan for this iteration of Cope Thunder.

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