Green Flag - West exercise began Oct. 9 Published Oct. 13, 2009 NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Southern Nevada and Southern California residents will see increased military aircraft activity as the Air Force begins GREEN FLAG - West 10-01, Oct. 9. Missions will be flown between 3 p.m. and 12 a.m. beginning Oct. 9 through Oct. 23, and will take place at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. The exercise flight path includes areas within Las Vegas valley, to and from Nellis AFB and the NTC, near Mount Charleston, and north of Pahrump in Nevada; as well the Mojave Desert near Fort Irwin in both Inyo and San Bernardino Counties in California. Conducted by the 549th Combat Training Squadron at Nellis and the 12th Combat Training Squadron at Fort Irwin, GREEN FLAG-West provides a realistic close-air support training environment for Airmen and Soldiers preparing to deploy in support of combat operations in Southwest Asia. An unscripted battle exercise which provides units with training on a scale not available at or near their home stations, GREEN FLAG-West replicates irregular warfare conditions currently found in Iraq and Afghanistan. Aircrews, working closely with joint terminal attack controllers, protect nearly 6,000 Soldiers and 400 armored and support vehicles from an opposing enemy force 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 annually. Aircraft and squadrons participating in GREEN FLAG - West 10-01 include F-15Es from the 494th Fighter Squadron at Royal Air Force Station Lakenheath, England, A-10Cs from the 184th Fighter Squadron in the Arkansas Air National Guard and a KC-10 from McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. For more information about GREEN FLAG-West 10-02, contact the Nellis Public Affairs Office at (702) 652-2750.
