ACFT HAD A TCASII RA GENERATED BY A MIL FLT OF TWO.

Narrative

WHILE CRUISING AT FL350 ON AN ASSIGNED HDG OF 305 DEGS; WE RECEIVED A TCASII RA WITH A CLBING COMMAND. BEFORE WE HAD A CHANCE TO RESPOND; WE SIGHTED AN F15 ON OUR L-HAND SIDE; APPROX 1/2 MI AWAY. BASED ON THE TCASII DISPLAY; THE ACFT REACHED FL340; THEN RAPIDLY DSNDED. THE CTLR EXPLAINED THAT THE ACFT WAS A 'POP UP' TARGET FOR HIM AND THAT IT HAD PENETRATED THE PERIMETER OF AN MOA. WE NEVER DID GET A TCASII TA PRIOR TO THE RA. AFTER CONTACTING ZKC ON THE TELEPHONE; I FOUND OUT THE FOLLOWING: THE OTHER ACFT WERE A FLT OF 2 F F15'S (WE ONLY SIGHTED 1). THEY WERE FROM STL (ANG) OPERATING IN THE LINDBERG MOA. ONLY THE LEAD ACFT HAD A XPONDER TURNED ON; AND IT MAY HAVE BEEN OFF PRIOR TO DEPARTING THE MOA. THIS MAY HAVE BEEN THE REASON FOR LACK OF A TCASII TA (CLB RATE MAY HAVE ALSO BEEN A FACTOR). THEY HAD COMPLETED THEIR TRAINING MISSION AND WERE REQUESTING A CLRNC OUT OF THE MOA. WHEN THEY WERE IDENTED BY THE CTLR; THEY HAD ALREADY PENETRATED THE BOUNDARY OF THE MOA. BY THE TIME CTLR CONTACTED THE CTLR FOR OUR SECTOR; THE EVENT WAS OVER. I BELIEVE THAT THE SAME CTLR SHOULD BE WORKING THE MOA AND THE CIVILIAN TFC. ALL MIL ACFT IN A FORMATION SHOULD BE USING THEIR XPONDERS. ALSO OUR NAV DISPLAY WILL ONLY DISPLAY INFO ON TCASII THREATS WHEN ON A RANGE OF 40 NM OR LESS. AT THE TIME OF THE RA; I HAD SELECTED 160 NM; SO I HAD TO CHANGE THE RANGE TO 40 NM BEFORE THE THREAT WAS DISPLAYED.