Northern Shield Readiness Tour

An Arctic Air Defense Deployment from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Tour Description Not every border is visible. Some are defined by airspace… distance… and response time. The “Northern Shield” Tour places you in the cockpit of a U.S. Air Force fighter assigned to an Arctic air defense squadron operating out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), Alaska. Your mission: patrol the vast northern approaches to North America, where airspace meets uncertainty. These flights aren’t routine. They are long, cold, and often uneventful— until they aren’t. You’ll deploy across Alaska’s remote airfields, operate from forward locations, and respond to unidentified aircraft approaching U.S. and allied airspace. There are no frontlines here. Just distance… and the expectation that you’ll be there first.

Recommended Aircraft F-22 Raptor • F-35 Lightning II • F-15C/E

Flying Style: High-speed / IFR / Long-range intercept / Cold-weather ops