Red Flag exercises ready to soar over Las Vegas Valley
If you notice the Southern Nevada skies are extra noisy these next three weeks, you can thank the Red Flag 20-1 exercises.
From Monday until Feb. 14, more than 80 aircraft are scheduled to depart from Nellis Air Force Base twice a day and remain in the air for up to five hours during Red Flag, according to Nellis officials.
There might also be night launches to allow air crews to train for nighttime combat operations.
The Red Flag exercise gives airmen the chance to train in advanced and realistic combat-like situations in a controlled environment at the Nevada Test and Training Range north of Las Vegas and increase their chances of having successful mission and return home.
The 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 — has 1,900 possible targets and an opposing enemy force that helps air forces train to fight, survive and win together.
And Red Flag will prepare maintenance personnel, ground controllers, space and cyber operators to support those missions within the same tactical environment.
Contact Briana Erickson at berickson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5244. Follow @ByBrianaE on Twitter.