NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Pilots, maintainers, and support personnel from the active duty 388th and Reserve 419th Fighter Wings at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, are currently deployed here from the 421st Fighter Squadron and Fighter Generation Squadron as part of Red Flag 25-1.
Red Flag is a large force exercise combining multiple domains of warfare into one complex fight, encompassing air, space and cyber fronts. The advanced scenarios are designed to challenge Airmen, both in planning and in practice.
During the exercise, Hill's F-35A Airmen have the opportunity to work alongside allies from the Royal Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force as well as sister-service F-35 units from the United States Marine Corps.
The need for an exercise like Red Flag presented itself after the air losses in Vietnam -- to better train inexperienced pilots what to expect from threats and how to survive in combat. Since then the focus has shifted to integrating warfighters from across the spectrum in an effort to "overcome the complexities of Great Power Competition."
This year is Red Flag's 50th anniversary.