07/18/2015: 4/22/2015 – NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev.
Southern Nevada residents may notice increased military aircraft activity as the Air Force conducts Red Flag 15-3 from July 13-31.
Red Flag is a realistic combat training exercise involving the air, space and cyber forces of the United States and its allies.
The exercise is hosted north of Las Vegas on the Nevada Test and Training Range — the U.S. Air Force’s premier military training area with more than 15,000 square miles of airspace and 2.9 million acres of land. With 1,900 possible targets, realistic threat systems and an opposing enemy force that cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world, Nellis AFB and the NTTR are the home of a simulated battlefield, providing combat air forces with the ability to train to fight together in a peacetime environment, and to survive and win together.
The 414th Combat Training Squadron is responsible for executing Red Flag. The exercise is one out of a series of advanced training programs administered at Nellis AFB and on the NTTR by organizations assigned to the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center. More than 115 aircraft are scheduled to depart Nellis twice a day and aircraft may remain in the air for up to five hours. Flying times are scheduled to accommodate other flying missions at Nellis AFB and provide Red Flag participants with valuable training in planning and executing a wide variety of combat missions.
The exercise will include U.S. forces and aircraft from:
– 53rd Wing, 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron, F-15Cs, Nellis AFB, Nev.
– 159th Fighter Wing, 122nd Fighter Squadron, F-15Cs, New Orleans, La.
– 325th Fighter Wing, 95th Fighter Squadron, F-22As, Tyndall AFB, Fla.
– 20th Fighter Wing, 55th Fighter Squadron, F-16CMs, Shaw AFB, S.C.
– 55th Wing, 43rd Electronic Combat Squadron, EC-130Hs, Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.
– 52nd Fighter Wing, 480th Fighter Squadron, F-16CMs, Spangdahlem AB, Germany
– 5th Bomber Wing, 69th Bomber Squadron, B-52H, Minot AFB, N.D.
– 366th Fighter Wing, 389th Fighter Squadron, F-15Es, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
– 366th Fighter Wing, 391st Fighter Squadron, F-15Es, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
– 552nd Air Combat Wing, 960th Airborne Air Control Squadron, E-3A, Tinker AFB, Okla.
– 22nd Air Refueling Wing, 344th Air Refueling Squadron, KC-135, McConnell AFB, Kan.
– 55th Wing, 38th Reconnaissance Squadron, RC-135V/Ws, Offutt AFB, Neb.
– 57th Wing, 64th Aggressors, F-16C, Nellis AFB, Nev.
– 57th Wing, 64th Aggressors, F-15C, Nellis AFB, Nev.
– 116th Air Control Wing, 16th Airborne Command and Control Squadron, E-8s, Robins AFB, Ga.
– 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115, F/A-18s, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, S.C.
-2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 4, EA-6Bs, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C.
– Commander, Electronic Attack Wing, Electronic Attack Squadron 138, EA- 18Gs, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.
http://www.nellis.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123445925
The photos show some of the aircraft involved in the exercise.
Credit:99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs:7/13/15
- In the first photo, an EA-6B Prowler assigned to Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 4, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., flies during a Red Flag 15-3 sortie at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., July 13, 2015.
- In the second photo, an F-15E Strike Eagle assigned to Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, flies during a Red Flag 15-3 sortie at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., July 13, 2015.
- In the third photo, two maintainers from the 20th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., watch an F/A-18C Hornet taxi during Red Flag 15-03 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., July 13, 2015
- In the fourth photo, an EA-18G Growler taxis down the flightline during Red Flag 15-03 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., July 13, 2015.
- In the final photo, members of the 20th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., walk off the flightline after performing an end-of-runway check on three F-16 Fighting Falcons during Red Flag 15-3 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., July 13, 2015.