Synergy in the sky: Red Flag air combat exercises ready pilots for real thing

By Ian Whitaker

Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Fighter pilots around the world descended on Nellis Air Force Base last week to kick off the year’s first Red Flag exercise — a series of combat training missions that pit the latest high-tech military aircraft against each other in the skies above Nevada.

Eighteen squadrons from around the United States and several from NATO countries are participating in the exercise, the first of four set to take place in Southern Nevada this year.

The exercises occur in the Nevada Test and Training Range, a vast 15,000-square-mile portion of restricted airspace in the empty desert northwest of Las Vegas. The exercises officially started Jan. 26 and will end Feb. 13.

More than 50 fighter jets take off from the base twice a day for three weeks to participate in the training missions, which sometimes involve the dropping of live bombs on targets in the range.

A number of those fighters are from the 64th Aggressor Squadron based at Nellis. Pilots in the squadron are trained in flying tactics used by enemy forces. For training purposes, they fly against the other pilots to simulate an actual combat situation a pilot would encounter in real life.

Each day features two missions, one during the day and one at night. Rookie pilots tend to fly during the day, while the more experienced pilots try their hand at night. Other aircraft, including helicopters, refueling tankers and long-range radar planes also participate.

The missions last around two hours, though some can go longer. The majority of the time each day is spent in debriefing, when the pilots review each decision they made to determine what worked and what didn’t.

This year Nellis is experimenting with drones and satellites and integrating them into the exercises.

“We’re looking at a war that’s not conventional,” said Paul Heinz, first lieutenant at Nellis’ 547th Intelligence Squadron. “This is the experiment ground.”

This is the 40th year the Red Flag exercises have been organized. The theme of this year’s first exercise was “integration,” according to those who participated in it.

Darren Goldie, wing commander of the Royal Australian Air Force, said that many air forces often interact with each other for the first time when deployed in wars.

Exercises like the Red Flag allow different air forces to get to know each other’s procedures and tactics before they find themselves fighting alongside each other.

“It’s critical that we’re well prepared to … speak the same tactical language as our coalition partners,” Goldie said. “So that when it all gets difficult in the heat of the battle and in the middle of the night, you know where to look each time.”