Another Red Flag At Nellis AFB, NV
Earlier this month, I returned from my second Red Flag exercise at Nellis AFB, NV...the first took place back in the fall of '06 (click here for that post) when I was stationed at Aviano AB, Italy. As with my first exercise, I flew as a wingman during the two weeks of training. This time it was not because I was new to the F-16, but because I was new to the Block 50 missions of SEAD and DEAD as previously discussed in early posts. Our flight from Shaw AFB took about 4.2 hours with two air-to-air refuelings before the runway at Nellis was in sight...it's quite the skyline when landing to the south at Nellis seeing the Vegas strip in the distance. It didn't take long to realize we were not in SC anymore after landing. As soon as I raised the canopy I was sitting in 110° heat, but this time without the humidity of the southeast! I was back in "Fighter Town USA!"
Similar to '06, there were many foreign countries participating in the exercise looking to grown and learn from our training tactics...the parking ramp full of fighter jets, which is always a cool sight to see. International flags are sometimes frustrating as communication and tactics can be difficult/different, but in the end of the day flying in a large force exercise (LFE...with 50-60 aircraft) is always a good learning experience. It was especially good for me to fly and execute the new missions in such an environment. Upon returning to Shaw I started the Block 50 instructor pilot upgrade (IPUG), so this training has helped as I brief and fly in an instructor role.
While at Nellis we had a squadron naming (an event where new pilots to the squadron get their first name, or keep a previous name if coming from another active duty base). There were five of us total who were named, and I kept "Nuke" which for those who don't know stands for "no understanding kills everything" from a bafoonerous thing I did as young wingman back at Aviano. Tradition is if a pilot has flow with a certain callsign in war and dropped bombs (Iraq for me) and served in all three US Air Force Commands (USAFE, PACAF and ACC...which I know have), they cannot be renamed. So, naturally I kept Nuke.
Now that I've been in the Air Force for almost 7.5 years, the circle of friends Lana and I have has grown quite a bit. Two couples we know well, one from Aviano and the other from Kunsan, are now stationed at Nellis and I was able to meet up with both of them for dinner. Here in a couple of weeks I'm flying back to Nellis, and this time Lana and Liam will accompany me to catch up with our friends there. It will be good to have them both rather than separated!
Earlier this month, I returned from my second Red Flag exercise at Nellis AFB, NV...the first took place back in the fall of '06 (click here for that post) when I was stationed at Aviano AB, Italy. As with my first exercise, I flew as a wingman during the two weeks of training. This time it was not because I was new to the F-16, but because I was new to the Block 50 missions of SEAD and DEAD as previously discussed in early posts. Our flight from Shaw AFB took about 4.2 hours with two air-to-air refuelings before the runway at Nellis was in sight...it's quite the skyline when landing to the south at Nellis seeing the Vegas strip in the distance. It didn't take long to realize we were not in SC anymore after landing. As soon as I raised the canopy I was sitting in 110° heat, but this time without the humidity of the southeast! I was back in "Fighter Town USA!"
Similar to '06, there were many foreign countries participating in the exercise looking to grown and learn from our training tactics...the parking ramp full of fighter jets, which is always a cool sight to see. International flags are sometimes frustrating as communication and tactics can be difficult/different, but in the end of the day flying in a large force exercise (LFE...with 50-60 aircraft) is always a good learning experience. It was especially good for me to fly and execute the new missions in such an environment. Upon returning to Shaw I started the Block 50 instructor pilot upgrade (IPUG), so this training has helped as I brief and fly in an instructor role.
While at Nellis we had a squadron naming (an event where new pilots to the squadron get their first name, or keep a previous name if coming from another active duty base). There were five of us total who were named, and I kept "Nuke" which for those who don't know stands for "no understanding kills everything" from a bafoonerous thing I did as young wingman back at Aviano. Tradition is if a pilot has flow with a certain callsign in war and dropped bombs (Iraq for me) and served in all three US Air Force Commands (USAFE, PACAF and ACC...which I know have), they cannot be renamed. So, naturally I kept Nuke.
Now that I've been in the Air Force for almost 7.5 years, the circle of friends Lana and I have has grown quite a bit. Two couples we know well, one from Aviano and the other from Kunsan, are now stationed at Nellis and I was able to meet up with both of them for dinner. Here in a couple of weeks I'm flying back to Nellis, and this time Lana and Liam will accompany me to catch up with our friends there. It will be good to have them both rather than separated!
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