Royal Australian Air Force participates in Red Flag 12-3

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jack Sanders
  • Nellis Public Affairs
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. --  Members of No. 81 Wing, Royal Australian Air Force, are taking part in the Red Flag 12-3 air-to-air combat exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Feb. 27 through March 16.

"The access to capabilities at Red Flag, from a force integration perspective, is something we can't get anywhere else in the world," said Group Captain Vincent Iervasi, RAAF Red Flag detachment commander.

Iervasi said the RAAF participates in Red Flag every two years because the training is critical to Australia's Air Force's force development and its ability to join the nation's Allies, especially the U.S. and Great Britain, in large scale combat operations around the world.

As with other participant air forces, Iervasi said the RAAF purposely brings less experienced pilots as a large portion of the unit's participants to learn during the exercise. As Red Flag provides pilots with 10 or more combat sorties in a simulated battlefield that is as close to the real thing as possible, it is a significant opportunity to build up the wing's overall experience.

Red Flag 12-3 is classified as a Tier 1 exercise, involving Allied forces cooperating at the highest level of security classification. Red Flag is the largest regular Tier 1 exercise, and it's also the best hands-on training the Allies have for high-intensity, large force air combat operations anywhere in the world.

Red Flag brings together many flying and technological assets that are not routinely available to the RAAF in smaller scale exercises. Iervasi said RAAF's Red Flag participation equates to an easier transition to the Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35 "Lighting II," in the near future.

"We're able to practice a lot of things from a technology sharing perspective that we normally can't do anywhere else," he said. "With our fighter force about to transition to the Joint Strike Fighter in a couple of years, it's really important that we start to get up to speed with fifth-generation capabilities and techniques."

Working alongside U.S. and U.K. counterparts in the exercise to practice skills and techniques they'd be using in the real world builds a camaraderie that Iervasi deems "fundamental" to the success of Allied operations.

"What we have [especially in our coalition exercises] is a fairly extensive exchange officer program," he said. "A lot of the relationships that have been built through that for the last 20 years have been founded upon the exchange officer program.

He said this relationship translates directly into operational benefit.

"For example, when we deployed our F/A-18s to Iraq in 2003, where a unit was based, there were a lot of ex-exchange officers that flew with us, which were actually embedded in the U.S. units. That smoothed a lot of the ground work."

Iervasi said the lessons the RAAF learns at Red Flag carry through to other Australian and coalition exercises as well, such as Talisman Saber and Pitch Black, Australia's major air combat exercises.

"I love the training and the exposure here," Iervasi said. "We can't get it anywhere else."