Germans soar at Nellis

Diana Sahagun

Wednesday, Nov. 3, 1999 | 11:28 a.m.

German fighter pilots showcased their aerial acrobatics Tuesday at Nellis Air Force Base, just days before they take off for home in their MiG-29 Fulcrums.

Hundreds of pilots have gone to war twice daily over the rugged Nevada terrain during the last two weeks for Red Flag exercises. For the first time in Nellis history, MiG-29s participated, piloted by members of the German air force.

Friday marks the last day of Red Flag, designed to prepare United States and allied forces for combat by sharpening aerial combat skills and providing realistic training in a combined air, ground and electronic threat environment.

Red Flag traces its origin to the Cold War, when military strategists were concerned with American losses in Vietnam.

Lt. Commander Billy Horn said a common theme when looking back at the losses was "lack of training."

Red Flag was created in 1975 at Nellis to give pilots that training, he said, by replicating air threats and air strikes. The training is conducted over Nellis' 12,000 square miles of air space.

"Pilots are trained to know a threat and replicate that threat so when there is a potential conflict, they know how to fight that threat," Horn said.

Computerized systems simulate surface-to-air missiles, and a "red" aggressor fighter squadron confronts "blue" allied forces with tactics they would face in a real war.

"These pilots fight together just as they would in a real mission. You train the way you're going to fight," said Horn, who is the commander of the aggressor team.

B.H. Poe, whose call sign is "Raven," participates in Red Flag as part of the mission crew for battlefield management.

He and a crew assist the pilot by analyzing information on targets and providing information about the battlefield. The crew is housed in the capsule of an EC-130 fighter plane.

"Red Flag is sought as the premiere exercise, as close as you can get to real combat," said Poe, who has participated in Red Flag 18 times. "Nothing in the United States can recreate actual combat, but Red Flag comes the closest."

During the exercise 70 fighter jets can be in the sky at any one time. Horn said with all the traffic, safety is of the utmost concern.

In Georgia last week, two fighter jet pilots were killed during the Navy's Blue Angels demonstration.

Horn said there has only been one Red Flag accident in the last four years, occurring last April when a British GR-S fighter plane crashed while flying too low. The pilot was able to eject safely.

"This is a training environment, so we want the same number of pilots to leave as arrived here," he said. "Safety and training is paramount."