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480th FS departs for Red Flag 15-3

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  • By Staff Reports
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany --  Twelve U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft departed Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, July 6, 2015, to participate in Red Flag 15-3, the U.S. Air Force's premier air-to-air combat training exercise.

The event offers a realistic combat training exercise involving the air, space, and cyberforces of the United States and its allies and will take place at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, July 13-31, 2015.

The exercise is hosted north of Las Vegas on the Nevada Test and Training Range -- the U.S. Air Force's premier military training area with 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 else in the world, Nellis AFB and the NTTR 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 414th Combat Training Squadron is responsible for executing Red Flag. The exercise is one out of a series of advanced training programs administered at Nellis AFB and on the NTTR by organizations assigned to the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center.

More than 115 aircraft are scheduled to depart Nellis twice a day and aircraft may remain in the air for up to five hours. Flying times are scheduled to accommodate other flying missions at Nellis AFB and provide Red Flag participants with valuable training in planning and executing a wide variety of combat missions.

The exercise will include U.S. forces and aircraft from:

- 53rd Wing, 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron, F-15Cs, Nellis AFB, Nev.
- 159th Fighter Wing, 122nd Fighter Squadron, F-15Cs, New Orleans, La.
- 325th Fighter Wing, 95th Fighter Squadron, F-22As, Tyndall AFB, Fla.
- 20th Fighter Wing, 55th Fighter Squadron, F-16CMs, Shaw AFB, S.C.
- 55th Wing, 43rd Electronic Combat Squadron, EC-130Hs, Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz.
- 52nd Fighter Wing, 480th Fighter Squadron, F-16CMs, Spangdahlem AB, Germany
- 5th Bomber Wing, 69th Bomber Squadron, B-52H, Minot AFB, N.D.
- 366th Fighter Wing, 389th Fighter Squadron, F-15Es, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
- 366th Fighter Wing, 391st Fighter Squadron, F-15Es, Mountain Home AFB, Idaho
- 552nd Air Combat Wing, 960th Airborne Air Control Squadron, E-3A, Tinker AFB, Okla.
- 22nd Air Refueling Wing, 344th Air Refueling Squadron, KC-135, McConnell AFB, Kan.
- 55th Wing, 38th Reconnaissance Squadron, RC-135V/Ws, Offutt AFB, Neb.
- 57th Wing, 64th Aggressors, F-16C, Nellis AFB, Nev.
- 57th Wing, 64th Aggressors, F-15C, Nellis AFB, Nev.
- 116th Air Control Wing, 16th Airborne Command and Control Squadron, E-8s, Robins AFB, Ga.
- 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 115, F/A-18s, Marine Corps      Air Station Beaufort, S.C.
-2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 4, EA-6Bs, Marine   Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C.
- Commander, Electronic Attack Wing, Electronic Attack Squadron 138, EA- 18Gs, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.

Since 1975, Red Flag has provided training for more than 440,000 military personnel, including more than 145,000 aircrew members flying more than 385,000 sorties and logging more than 660,000 hours of flying time.

For more information about Red Flag, contact the 99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs office at www.nellis.af.mil.