Two Japanese Air Self Defense Force (JASDF) Airmen work on flare boxes for a JASDF F-15J Eagle fighter aircraft prior to it taking off from Elmendorf Air Force Base (AFB), Alaska (AK), for a training mission while participating in Exercise COOPERATIVE COPE THUNDER, the largest multinational air combat training exercise in the Pacific. This 15-day exercise simulates wartime combat conditions so that military personnel from 12-nations can sharpen their air fighting skills, exchange air operational tactics, and build closer relations with each other