LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas, Nev. released a media advisory for upcoming United States Air Force training exercises. According to Nellis officials, Red Flag 24-1 is predicted to increase noise Jan. 15-26.
Starting Monday, Southern Utah and Nevada residents may notice increased noise from military aircraft. Aircraft are scheduled to depart the Nellis base twice daily and could remain in the air for up to five hours during this large-scale exercise.
There will also be night launches to allow aircrew to simulate training during nighttime combat operations.
“During Red Flag 24-1, Nellis will welcome close to 2,000 participants from the USAF, joint services, allies and partners,” Nellis public affairs said. “The 388th Fighter Wing from Hill AFB, Utah, will take command as the lead wing over the participating aircraft, including the F-35 Lightning II, F-22 Raptor, B-2 Spirit, and the Royal Air Force Typhoon.”
Nellis has hosted Red Flag exercises since 1975 to provide aircrews the experience of multiple, intensive air combat sorties in the safety of a training environment.
There are three iterations of Red Flag annually: one U.S. only, one open to FVEY (Five Eyes) participants and another that welcomes an expanded roster of international allies and partners.
The training occurs at Nellis AFB on the Nevada test and training range, the U.S. Air Force’s premier military training area with more than 12,000 square miles of airspace and 2.9 million acres of land — about half the size of Switzerland.
In a typical Red Flag exercise, blue forces (friendly) engage red forces (hostile) in realistic combat situations.
During the training , military personnel are also receiving valuable training on the computer hardware and software network that provides real-time monitoring, post-mission reconstruction of maneuvers and tactics, participant pairings and integration of range targets and simulated threats.
An analysis performed after the Vietnam War showed that a pilot’s chances of survival in combat dramatically increased after ten combat missions.
As a result, Red Flag was created by the United States Air Force in 1975 to offer pilots and weapon systems officers the opportunity to fly ten realistically simulated combat missions in a safe environment.
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