Pilots engage in war drills

Jeffrey Libby

Friday, Oct. 19, 2001 | 10 a.m.

"Fight's on. Tape's on."

On Thursday around 12:30 p.m., those words echoed at about 30,000 feet above the eastern reaches of the Nellis Air Range, a 12,000 square-mile airspace spreading north from Nellis Air Base to Caliente in the east and Tonopah in the west.

They opened a mock air battle of about 65 U.S. planes participating in Red Flag flight exercises. They also gave the signal to roll recording tape.

Radioed by a mission commander, those same words signal the "green light" for combat in war. They have echoed repeatedly over Afghanistan, where the U.S. military has conducted bombing raids since Oct. 7.

But military strategists planned Red Flag training exercises five months ago, Lt. Col. Gary Webb, of the 414th Combat Training Squad, said. Exercises have not been modified to recreate possible combat situations in Afghanistan, Webb said.

Combat exercises are still comprehensive enough, however, to cover most situations that pilots and air crew will encounter, Webb said.

Flight personnel on Wednesday and Thursday engaged in simulated air-to-air combat using computer-aided equipment. Weapons systems operators dropped live and fake bombs on ground targets. And pilots eluded simulated anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles. The engagement was over in about 22 minutes.

Airmen will continue exercises at the regularly scheduled four-week session through Nov. 9.

The U.S. military established Red Flag exercises at Nellis in 1975 after a study showed that during the Vietnam War the casualty rate among young pilots who had flown less than 10 combat missions was significantly higher than more experienced pilots.

The training aims to bring more soldiers safely back to base.

A B-1 bomber weapons systems operator from the 9th Bomb Squadron out of Dyess Air Force Base in Texas, said, "It's the closest we get to combat. This is the best training we get."

Four monthlong sessions are held each year at Nellis, with two of those sessions open to Allied nations. A fifth session is held in Canada.