NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Airmen assigned to the Nellis Support Center provide logistical support for nearly 3,000 personnel and around 100 aircraft from allied countries and other U.S. military bases who come to Nellis AFB to participate in Red Flag-Nellis.
“The Nellis Support Center spent months preparing for the influx of the personnel, aircraft and equipment to arrive on base, and they continue to work quietly in the background to ensure the 3,000 Red Flag-Nellis 22-1 participants have the support they need to train and win a high-end fight,” said Col. Todd Dyer, 99th Air Base Wing commander.
Tech. Sgt. Jahmel Sargent, 99th Logistics Readiness Squadron Airlift Management noncommissioned officer in charge, oversees the support of incoming aircraft. Fighters, bombers and support aircraft from other units and countries need parking spaces, air stairs and equipment.
“One job doesn’t do the same trick for every aircraft,” said Sargent. ”Units coming in for Red Flag contact us ahead of time to coordinate and make sure that everything that they need to support their aircraft is available.”
Airmen from the Nellis Support Center are also responsible for coordinating with outside sources, such as hotels and rental car companies in the community in order to provide the visitors with necessary resources.
Many of these Airmen working logistics come from different career fields like ground transport and have trained in order to provide support to visiting units.
While Senior Airman Leticia Wood’s original career field is ground transport, for the last month, she has been working at the Nellis Support Center as a lodging representative and coordinating all lodging for visiting units here for Red Flag-Nellis 22-1.
Wood is tasked with contacting and building relationships with a dozen hotels in order to provide units with lodging. She also makes sure that the units are kept together and at a reasonable distance from the base.
“I think lodging is very important,” said Wood. “Depending on where you place these units, it will affect how they get to work and complete the mission.”
To coordinate lodging for visitors, Wood begins by collecting all the names of visiting personnel from different units. She then reaches out to on-base housing, and if there’s no lodging available on base, she contacts hotels in the surrounding area.
“I think that’s the biggest challenge,” said Wood. “Finding locations that work for the unit and work for the mission that they have.”
The Nellis Support Center is also responsible for ensuring other large and small force exercises outside of Red Flag-Nellis run smoothly. For example, they provide support and coordinate for Green Flag.
“It is a massive effort to prepare for Red Flag, and the Nellis Support Center makes it look easy,” said Dyer.