Thunderbirds resume practice

Friday, Sept. 14, 2001 | 9:50 a.m.

Pilots plied the wild blue yonder from Nellis Air Force Base and the Fallon Naval Air Station on Thursday as Nevada military bases took a step toward normalcy.

Both installations maintained a heightened security posture, along with military bases across the country. But the alert status was reduced one step below the highest level.

At Nellis, the base exchange, library and a public elementary school reopened for the first time since terrorists attacked New York and Washington on Tuesday.

The alert status change also freed the Thunderbirds air demonstration squadron to resume flying, said Sgt. Charles Ramey, a base spokesman.

The squad, which canceled its planned weekend appearance at a show in Salinas, Calif., in the wake of the terrorist attacks, began practice sessions Thursday, with six of the red, white and blue F-16s taking off from the base for maneuvers at Range 65, near Indian Springs Auxiliary Air Field, Nellis officials said.

Before heading to Indian Springs, the team performed a flyover at Nellis.

Nellis, meanwhile, remained on heightened security, though base services such as the exchange and commissary were open.

Nellis officials, however, advised retirees and other occasional consumers to wait until Monday to go shopping at the base to avoid what are expected to be long checkout lines through the weekend.

With security at the third of four levels, vehicles were being searched at the gate and only military and essential civilian personnel were let through.

Anne McMillin, spokeswoman for the Fallon Air Station, said Navy aviators resumed aerial training at the base about 60 miles east of Reno.

"We've got everyone on base working today," she said, adding that about 3,000 military personnel and nonmilitary contractors work there.