Air Force Staff Sgts. Robert Knickle, left, and Timothy Smith push luggage into a pod on an F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft on Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, Dec. 7, 2015. Knickle and Smith are crew chiefs assigned to the 354th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron. More than 30 maintenance airmen worked an early shift to help launch several jets to Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., for Checkered Flag 16-1, a large-force exercise that simulates a deployed environment to cross-check weapons systems. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Shawn Nickel