Arctic Thunder 2024: ‘Honoring Our Legacy and Inspiring the Future Generations’

Ahead of the Arctic Thunder weekend was a “rehearsal day” and open house for service members and their families to watch as teams from the Air Force Thunderbirds conducted aerial feats of wonder, the German Toronados take flight, parachutists make flying and gliding to the Earth look easy, and interact with different squadron crews on the ground. It was also a chance to meet up with several commanders of the base taking in their first Arctic Thunder.

After taking command of 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER) less than a week prior, Colonel Charles “Shell” Schuck was still adjusting to the temperatures, having just moved from Florida. “This is a bit of a change…a welcome change,” he said hours before the gates were opened to the biennial Arctic Thunder Open House (ATOH) on July 19, 2024.

“Today is for the DOD (Department of Defense) family members to come out and see this, and the weekend is for the public,” said Col. Schuck. “The main reason we have these is to be transparent with the public. The public, their taxes go to the DOD budget, and it’s an opportunity for us to show the capabilities the American public provides to the DOD, and for us to show our ability to use our war machines and to show you what we do.”

It was a sentiment shared by Colonel Lisa Mabbutt, who is also new to her position as JBER Installation Commander.

“The Arctic Thunder Open House is our opportunity to open our gates and show the local public what we do, and bring our partners on the base…show what our air power and ground force capability is.” Col. Mabbutt said the ATOH was also a wonderful opportunity to stand side by side with families and marvel at the military capabilities.

The ATOH also gave air crews time to get a feel for the airspace and work out their demonstrations, as well as let the base opportunity to let the families come out as many of the military members have to work the weekend.

Col. Schuck said there was another important reason to host the ATOH:

“To honor the sacrifices the community makes having us here on JBER on a day-to-day basis, and to hopefully inspire the next generation of service members to want to come in to the Air Force, the Army, etc.”

The theme of the Arctic Thunder 2024 was ‘Honoring Our Legacy and Inspiring the Future Generations,” which Col. Mabbutt said would lend itself to many of the displays and demo teams.

“We have one of the strongest teams that I’ve ever seen. I’m excited to see what’s in store.”

The military is an all-volunteer force, with about 1% of the US population making the decision to join the Armed Forces, and Col. Schuck says that it’s one of the best things about the military, and that to maintain the all-volunteer military, inspiring others is key.

“Just by doing our mission, we consider ourselves to always be recruiting the next…to be able to showcase the awesome mission that we have and hopefully inspire.”