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WASILLA - Military units from South Korea and Japan joined U.S. flyers at Elmendorf Air Force base for war games.

Fighter jets, cargo planes and other military aircraft last week participated in the Pacific Alaska Range Complex exercises called Red Flag Alaska.

The range complex, a swath of land in eastern Alaska, is almost the size of Germany and larger than South Korea.

Military units divided into red and blue teams and practice identifying and taking out the enemy. Units also practice in-flight refueling, supply drops, air evacuations and wartime support functions.

Air Force Lt. Col. Gregory Franklin said that at any one time there could be as many as 100 airplanes in the air. The goal is to give pilots and crews a realistic wartime simulation.

Red Flag exercises are conducted in Alaska and outside Las Vegas. The Pacific Complex is far larger.

"They get to kind of spread their wings a little more," Franklin said. "This exercise is on par with any large force exercise in the world."

Adam Shockley, who works with a C-130 cargo plane crew, said Alaska is a great place to gain real-world experience. He participated in a Red Flag exercise in Nevada and didn't once have to deal with inclement weather.

"Yeah, it's beautiful, good luck," he remembered radar crews telling him. Alaska presents new challenges.

"How are we going to get from A to B without getting our guys in trouble, flying where they're not supposed to be?" Shockley said.

Lt. Col. Andy Hird, who flies another Air Force cargo plane, the C-17, said a benefit of the exercise is practicing with other types of aircraft.

"We don't get the opportunity in the mobility air forces to fight with the combat air forces," he said.

Capt. Alison Shore, a member of an Airborne Early Warning and Control crew, said most other training missions she runs will include, at most, 10 F-15 fighter jets. The Red Flag exercises, she said, fill her radar screens with planes to track. The number of aircraft flying around the complex provides great training.

"It's very stressful and it's the only real simulation we have," Shore said.