Red Flag training exercise to begin at Nellis Monday

Aircraft from 21 Air Force and Marine Corps squadrons, as well as aircraft from the United Kingdom and Australia, will take part in three weeks of combat training exercises beginning Monday at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada.

Under Red Flag 15-1, more than 125 aircraft will depart Nellis twice a day. Some aircraft will stay in the air for up to five hours as pilots practice combat maneuvers.

The combat training exercise involves air, space and cyber forces, according to a release from the 99th Air Base Wing at Nellis. The exercise is run by the 414th Combat Training Squadron, assigned to the 57th Wing at Nellis, and takes place on the Nevada Test and Training Range north of Las Vegas.

The training range, which is run by the Air Force Warfare Center at Nellis, has more than 15,000 square miles of airspace and 2.9 million acres of land.

"With 1,900 possible targets, realistic threat systems and an opposing enemy force that cannot be replicated anywhere in the world, Nellis AFB and the NTTR [training range] are the home of a simulated battlefield, providing combat air forces with the ability to train to fight together in a peacetime environment [and] to survive and win together," the release said.

This year is the 40th anniversary of the first Red Flag exercise. Since 1975, the exercises have trained more than 440,000 military personnel, including more than 145,000 air crew members flying more than 385,000 sorties, logging more than 660,000 hours of flying time, Nellis said.

Red Flag 15-1 will include U.S. forces and aircraft from:

1st Fighter Wing, 94th Fighter Squadron, F-22As, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia
20th Fighter Wing, 79th Fighter Squadron, F-16CJs, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina
55th Electronic Group, 43rd Electronic Combat Squadron, EC-130s, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona
57th Wing, 526th Intelligence Squadron, DCGS, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
158th Fighter Wing, 134th Fighter Squadron, F-16Cs, Burlington, Virginia Air National Guard
114th Fighter Wing, 175th Fighter Squadron, F-16Cs, Sioux Falls, South Dakota Air National Guard
31st Fighter Wing, 555th Fighter Squadron, F-16CMs, Aviano Air Base, Italy
Carrier Air Wing 17, Electronic Attack Squadron 132, EA-18G, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Washington
9th Reconnaissance Wing, 99th Reconnaissance Squadron, U-2, Beale Air Force Base, California
55th Wing, 43rd Electronic Combat Squadron, EC-130H, Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona
509th Bomb Wing, 393rd Bomb Squadron, B-2As, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 225, F/A-18D, Marine Corps Air Station, Miramar, California
461st Air Control Wing, 12th Airborne Command and Control Squadron, E-8s, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia
55th Wing, 348th Reconnaissance Squadron, RC-135s, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska
Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing, Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron 1, EP-3C, NAS Whidbey Island, Washington
Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing Ten, Patrol Squadron 46, P-3C, NAS Whidbey Island Washington
22nd Air Refueling Wing, TTF, KC135s, McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas
23rd Wing, 79th Rescue Squadron, HC-130Js, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona
23rd Wing, 66th Rescue Squadron, HH-60Gs, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
552nd Air Control Wing, 965th Airborne Air Control Squadron, E-3s, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma
57th Wing, 64th Aggressor Squadron, F-16Cs and F15Cs, Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
The exercises will also include Typhoons, F-15Cs, E-3Ds, Sentinels and a Control and Reporting Center from the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force. C-130Js from the Royal Australian Air Force will also take part.