Joint training prepares Airmen, Soldiers for real-world combat operations Published April 16, 2010 By 99ABW/PA Public Affairs NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Increased military aircraft activity is expected in areas of Southern Nevada and Southern California today through April 30 as Nellis Air Force Base hosts Green Flag-West 10-6. Missions will be flown from Nellis Air Force Base twice daily with takeoffs scheduled at approximately 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. for the duration of the exercise. Flying operations are scheduled to run until midnight. Joint combat training missions will be conducted between Nellis and the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. The exercise flight path includes areas within Las Vegas valley, near Mount Charleston, and north of Pahrump; as well the Mojave Desert near Fort Irwin in both Inyo and San Bernardino counties. Green Flag-West, which is conducted by the 549th Combat Training Squadron at Nellis and the 12th Combat Training Squadron at Fort Irwin, provides a realistic air-land integration training environment for Airmen and Soldiers preparing to deploy in support of worldwide combat operations. Serving as a realistic, air-land battle exercise providing units from across the country training on a scale impossible to replicate at or near their home stations, Green Flag-West replicates irregular warfare conditions currently found in Iraq and Afghanistan. Training scenarios test the ability of aircrews, who work closely with joint terminal attack controllers, to protect nearly 6,000 Soldiers and 400 armored and support vehicles from adversaries in a 1,000-square-mile combat environment. Units from the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and allied nations regularly participate in Green Flag-West, which is conducted 10 times throughout the year. Aircraft and squadrons participating in Green Flag-West 10-06 include the 9th Bomb Squadron from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, flying the B-1 Lancer and the 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing based at Creech Air Force Base, Nev., flying the MQ-1 Predator. Aircraft and aircrew representing the Royal Danish Air Force are also participating in the exercise; Danish aircrew are flying F-16 Fighting Falcon. Army members from the 3rd Infantry Division based at Fort Stewart, Ga. are also participating in the Green Flag-West exercise.
