  | Once our vehicles were parked near the Red Flag offices we were bussed to the rotation point between the runways, wow, what a location and with both runways being used we were kept on our toes for the day. We were not blessed with the greatest weather and the low level bombing missions for the day were cancelled because of icing below 10, 000 feet which meant no F-111’s but with all the other activity around us it was an absolute delight and it stayed dry which is always the main thing. The access was jaw droppingly good. |
| Stunning blue skies greeted us for our second media day on base at Nellis, this time at the EOR with its backdrop of snow topped mountains, I had to stand quietly on my own for a while to take in the location and remind myself exactly where I was. On one side F-15’s, F-16’s and F22’s undergoing their final checks before launching for their mission, on the other side recovering aircraft trimmed and set for landing thundering past. The action was relentless and the worry of not having enough CF cards entered my mind early after my earlier mishap. Fortunately friends were there as usual to lend me some of their kit so all was well. F-111C Aardvarks, F-117 Nighthawks, Tornado GR4’s, EA6-B Prowlers taxiing past and even the Thunderbirds found time to practice their slick, choreographed routine amongst all this activity. |
| The inaugural Red Flag exercise took place in November 1975, the brainchild of Major Richard ‘Moody’ Suter whose foresight enabled new pilots to gain combat experience through a series of realistic warfare training exercises before being placed in the front line. This foresight was recognized during the Vietnam conflict where survival rate increased dramatically with more missions flown, to eliminate this risk, pilots initial combat familiarity took place in a controlled situation over the skies of Nevada. The war scenarios are staged over the Nevada Test and Training Range which encompass some 4,800 square miles with a further 10,000 square miles of airspace also available for flight operations situated to the north and east. |
| The ‘Blue Force’, those aircraft and units invited to attend Red Flag have to compete against the ‘Red Force’ before continuing their mission to attack the specified targets. The ‘Red Force’, or aggressors as they are more commonly known, use F-16C’s of the 64th AGRS and F-15C’s of the 65th ARGS where both types are flown to simulate enemy aircraft, utilizing only the potential available to the selected adversary. Situated eight miles north of Las Vegas, Nellis Air Force Base was once the site of a Western Air Express dirt runway, with little more to offer than a water well and operations cabin. During October 1940 Major David Schlatter of the U.S. Army Air Corps, reviewed several areas in Utah, Arizona and Nevada, for a location to establish the first American flexible aerial gunnery school. Due to the surrounding area being a desert wasteland the Nevada site was chosen and on January 25th 1941 Las Vegas Mayor John L. Russell transferred the property to the U.S. Quartermaster Corps for development and the Las Vegas Army Air Corps Gunnery School was established at the renamed Las Vegas Army Air Field. |
| As the weather was ideal for year round flying, the unpopulated area to the North afforded a natural backdrop for cannon and machine gun firing with the natural dry lake beds available for emergency landings, the land, available to purchase for $1 per acre, was soon snapped up. By the end of 1941 10 AT-6 Texan’s and 17 B-10 bombers were based at LVAAF, this rapid growth continued with the arrival of the first B-17’s in 1942, at it’s zenith during WWII 600 gunnery students and 215 co-pilots graduated from the school every five weeks. After WWII, activities at LVAAF began winding down until finally on January 31st 1947 the base was inactivated and remained so till the following year when renamed as Las Vegas Air Force Base, re-opened as a jet fighter pilot training wing. |
| In 1950 LVAFB was renamed to honour a local man from Southern Nevada 1st Lt. William Harrell Nellis, who was killed in action over Luxembourg on December 27th 1944. During the Korean conflict, practically every fighter pilot who flew in the airspace nicknamed MiG alley would have received their final combat training at Nellis. To this day the 14,000 acres of Nevada that houses Nellis Air Force Base is known as the ‘Home of the Fighter Pilot’, the height of sophisticated air warfare preparation for our combined strike forces. |
| | words and images by
Matt Critchley, Mike Broad
Brian Clark, Simon Frost
special thanks to
Captain Justin McVay
1st Lt Randi Norton
Michael Estrada
Flt Lt Lauretta Webster |
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