Moody Airmen participate in Red Flag 10-1 combat training exercise at Nellis

by Airman 1st Class Brigitte Brantley
23rd Wing Public Affairs

11/23/2009 - MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- More than 160 Moody Airmen recently returned home after participating in the Red Flag 10-1 combat training exercise Oct. 19 to Oct. 30, held at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.

With 1,300 servicemembers combined, including individuals from two other countries, exercise participants were able to practice the skills needed to be successful while in a deployed location. One major advantage to the training was Airmen getting the opportunity to work with personnel and assets from other various bases.

"This opportunity to interact with other platforms allowed us a more diverse training experience than we normally receive," said Lt. Col. Derek Oaks, 75th Fighter Squadron commander. "Although we were dealing with different environments, timelines and scenarios than we typically do, we were able to successfully adapt and integrate with these other bases and their equipment.

"This type of training environment may have pushed some people out of their comfort zones, but that was the intended purpose," he added. "One intelligence analyst Airman mentioned that he learned more while at Nellis AFB than he has learned in the past year, which says a lot about the caliber and intensity of this training exercise."

The exercise also afforded Airmen the opportunity to witness and participate in the deployment and return of multiple aircraft.

"At Moody, the maintainers might only see a couple of aircraft here or there depart and then come back," said Capt. Jeremy Johnston, 75th Fighter Squadron D-flight commander. "During the exercise, we all got to see massive waves of offensive-type fighter jets become airborne, twice a day. Seeing this gets you excited and you get the feeling like you're really going to deploy."

During the 12-day exercise, Moody Airmen helped load nearly 200 sorties, which were more varied than at home base, and they accomplished them with limited resources.

"This exercise helped reaffirm how effective we are at generating and loading sorties," said Colonel Oaks. "At times, there was only a half-hour turnaround time, and at others, we didn't have access to all of our assets or parts we'd usually have, but that didn't stop us from excelling."

During the exercise's debrief, the Airmen got to hear details about what was effective and how to fix what was not effective.

"Nellis AFB has individuals trained to use enemy tactics, which we obviously utilized during the Red Flag exercise as training aids," said Captain Johnston. "During the debrief with these individuals, we were able to dig deeper, ask some questions and adjust our tactics accordingly so we would be able to successfully accomplish the mission in a deployed location."

The next major training exercise that Moody assets will participate in is tentatively scheduled for 2010.

Source

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