Red Flag: evolution

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Eric Burks
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. --  In 1975, when the first Red Flag exercise took place here; there were a few sights and sounds around Las Vegas that haven't changed much over the years.

Visitors flocked to casinos on Las Vegas Boulevard, took photos in front of neon displays on Fremont Street, and could hear the live music of Elvis Presley on a regular basis.

But today, there are newer, larger casinos, Fremont Street is now an "experience," and the guy singing "Love Me Tender" in a white sequined jumpsuit isn't Elvis.

Likewise, while the goal of Red Flag remains the same, the exercise has seen four decades of changing times, tactics, airframes and technologies.

"Red Flag still accomplishes the original objective it set out to in 1975," said Lt. Col. John Stratton, 493rd Fighter Squadron commander. "It provides realistic training to make our force more survivable in combat."

What makes Red Flag so relevant and important, he said, is that it has evolved commensurate with real world operations and threats.

"Red Flag deliberately incorporates lessons learned from real world operations, past Red Flags, weapons school training, and changes to meet the needs of the combat air forces and the war fighters," he said. "They've developed a variety of extremely difficult scenarios that build on each other from day to day so we aren't going out to execute the same mission over and over again."

Those scenarios aren't simply challenges for fighter pilots. Red Flag 15-1 incorporates adversaries in all three domains of air, space and cyberspace, and includes aircraft and personnel from 21 different U.S. military squadrons, as well as the Royal Australian Air Force and the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force.

Cyber and space operators have been included in the Red Flag exercises for nearly a decade, and Air Force Space Command elements were fully integrated in 2011 at the tactical level, from planning through execution and debrief, according to a 24th Air Force Public Affairs release.

Col Brian Dudas, Red Flag 15-1 Air Expeditionary Wing Commander and 48th Fighter Wing Vice Commander, said deployment and defense of assets across each element -- air, space and cyberspace -- is critical to the modern warfighter.

"In the 1970's, when Red Flag began, much of the technology we rely on today was still developing, and wasn't yet part of day-to-day employment," he said. "Today, everything overlaps across the domains, and they continue to evolve. Cyber warfare absolutely affects our capabilities, and defense of space in the future will be very important."

Red Flag, Dudas said, is the pinnacle of training environments.

"When our crews, maintainers, cyber operators, and air operations center and support personnel leave this exercise, they will all have been pushed to their own limits. They will understand just how crucial their own performance and success is to the success of the entire mission," he said.

"Nowhere else will you find such a coordinated environment to test every aspect of our warfighting capabilities. Nowhere else will you find such a well-trained team dedicated purely to replicating the best of the threats, challenges and issues we may face in combat operations," he said.

Dudas, who has attended nine Red Flags in 20 years, said the ultimate reason we train and operate with our allies at complex flag exercises is to improve our performance and prepare for those real-world operations.

"In today's world, the likelihood of going to combat without our sister services, allies, and partners is almost nil," he said. "Therefore, we want to maximize our opportunities to push our own limits alongside those warriors with whom we will fight when called upon."

Dudas said he's seen the level of international integration improve dramatically since his first Red Flag experience as a B-1B co-pilot in 1995.

"We used to spend the entire time trying to figure out how each other spoke, in different terminologies. It took time to learn how to best communicate and interact," he said. Now we walk in on the same page, ready to fight. We already speak a common tactical language."

The relationships built and strengthened here will pay huge dividends in future combat operations, Dudas said.

"It's that much less time we'll need to spend getting familiar with how we operate separately, he said, "since we've already done this tough exercise as one cohesive warfighting team."