Military Exercises – Mantegani Photos

Military Exercises

What is Red Flag

Red Flag is an exercise that was started by the United States Air Force (USAF) at Nellis AFB in 1975 to give its pilots the first ten combat missions of their career. Air Force studies from the Vietnam War showed that if a pilot survived their first ten missions, then they would have a higher survivability rate for all future missions. If a pilot could receive these ten missions in a controlled training environment, then they would know what to expect in real combat. Thus, the 414th Combat Training Squadron Red Flag was created. Red Flags have been so successful that exercises are also being held in Alaska to get more training.

In order to fully immerse the pilots into a realistic combat scenario, aggressor squadrons were established to simulate real threats that allied pilots would experience. The allied force is known as the blue force, and these aggressors are known as red threats. There are various aggressor squadrons ranging from aircraft squadrons, to ground threats, to intelligence squadrons. Part of Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) that is used for the Red Flag exercises contains plenty of ground threats that the pilots will engage. There are simulated surface to air missiles (SAMs) as well as enemy convoys, radars, and facilities. Smokey SAMs are used to simulate a missile launch and give the signature smoke trail of a missile launch. Today the 64th Aggressor Squadron flies F-16 Fighting Falcons painted in various Russian style camouflage to simulate the Mig-29. They not only fly aircraft painted like Russian aircraft but also fly tactics commonly used by Russian and Russian trained forces. Some visiting F-15 Eagle, F-5 Tiger II, and T-38 Talon squadrons have also provided additional aggressor aircraft to the exercise in the past. In addition, a private company called Draken International is starting to provide A-4 Skyhawk aircraft for the aggressor role.

Military Exercises

Sentry Eagle 2017

Sentry Eagle is a joint Air National Guard (ANG), Air Force, and Navy air-to-air combat training exercise hosted by the 173^rd Fighter Wing at Kingsley Field in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Sentry Eagle debuted in 1986 as a means of improving combat effectiveness, originally a yearly event until 1990 when it was changed to a biennial event. The small airfield of Kingsley Field becomes very busy as 40 to 50 aircraft from about a dozen squadrons arrive for the four day exercise and open house.

Military Exercises

What is the Jedi Transition

Rainbow Canyon is a canyon out in the Mojave Desert in the Death Valley National Park. It is adjacent to Panamint Valley, which is all part of the NAS China Lake range airspace. Rainbow Canyon is the last part of the Jedi Transition, a piece of the low level Sidewinder Route that is used to train pilots to do low level, terrain following maneuvers. Many of the surrounding valleys are also designated for low level flight and some are part of the China Lake testing ranges. Much of the airspace is military airspace and is jointly used by the Navy and Air Force for their various testing and training.

Military Exercises

Red Flag 16-1

Our first stop on our Red Flag 16-1 trip was Creech AFB out in Indian Springs, NV. It’s about an hour west of Nellis AFB and is home to the USAF’s Predator and Reaper UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). It is also the location where the USAF Thunderbirds practice when they are home at Nellis. As we drove past the base we saw a MQ-9 Reaper on the ramp and a couple of MQ-1 Predators in quonset huts. We heard a little chatter over the scanner so we pulled over to listen for a little. The Thunderbirds were practicing in the valley to the north of the airfield that way they could practice without affecting the regular operations at Creech. After a little more radio calls a Predator took off in front of us and slowly turned toward the north. We headed down the highway for Nellis so we could watch the launch for Red Flag and catch any other Nellis ops happening.

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