Joint Red Flag bringing big picture together

  • Published
  • By SSgt. Angel L. Casaigne, Jr.
  • Joint Red Flag Joint Information Bureau
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. --  The nation’s largest integrated exercise involving live and virtual simulations is well underway at locations throughout the United States.

Joint Red Flag is a training exercise for members of all U.S. services and members of coalition partners to enhance operational effectiveness, according to exercise officials. More than 10,000 people are participating in the exercise, primarily at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.; Fort Hood, Texas; Fort Bliss, Texas; Hurlburt Field, Fla.; and here. A key to the success of the exercise is integrating the live, virtual and constructive aspects under one umbrella.

“The difficult tasks of combining all live, virtual and constructive forces, saving lives and creating a computer-simulated battle plan distributed to sites all across the country is doing great,” said Lt. Col. James Murray, 12th Air Force project officer. “This is as good as we could have expected at this point.”

Colonel Murray explained that live training refers to people and aircraft actually performing an exercise mission. Virtual training refers to crews participating in the exercise by using simulators at various locations. Constructive forces are computer-aided simulations controlling a wider span of forces which play out much like a person sitting at a computer playing a video game.

“During the exercise, we have approximately 350 to 400 live joint and coalition sorties each day,” said Colonel Murray. “That isn’t really out of the norm; however, when you combine that with the more than 600 to 700 construction sorties and 850 virtual sorties we’re flying, it’s very busy.”

“Joint Red Flag is the largest and most complex modeling and simulation architecture created to date,” said Lt. Col. Mark D. Horn, commander of the 505th Exercise Control Squadron at Hurlburt Field. “The exercise has successfully linked 31 distributed sites, incorporating 34 constructive simulations, and over 18 virtual simulations and Weapons Tactics Trainers. This is a great undertaking and accomplishment that we are all proud of.”

The constructive forces are to play a large role in Joint Red Flag and add a unique aspect to the exercise and training scenario.

“Constructive simulations allow the military to train distributively, which means that the participants in some cases do not even need to leave their home base location to be a part of the largest joint and combined exercise ever attempted in history,” Colonel Murray said. “These models and simulations also allow the warfighters to integrate new weapons and weapon systems before they are first used in combat situations. This allows military planners the ability to learn how these new capabilities can be maximized without having to use the actual aircraft or weapon.

“In the end, the constructive training provided will continue to help the military reduce the overall training costs, while providing very realistic training using tomorrow’s weapons and techniques today,” Murray said.

In addition to saving money, the participation of coalition forces in Joint Red Flag gives an opportunity to save many lives.

“For the first time ever, we’re developing a coalition information system and network to move more information to all participants in a theater of operation,” Colonel Murray said. “Information is a critical asset in any Combined Air and Space Operations Center. It dramatically reduces the possibility of future friendly fire incidents, allowing our brave men and women to fight another day. This training is an intricate part of what the military will be using in the future to save lives.”

Long distances and the cooperation of many people have come together to give JRF at high rate of accomplishment midway through the exercise.

“When you think of the thousands of miles and people involved in putting this together, this exercise is a tremendous success so far. We’re currently at a 95 percent success rate, with it getting better everyday,” Colonel Murray added. “We’re working toward 100 percent success and hope to be there very soon. We’re proud of everyone and the hard work they’ve put in.”