Nellis offers 'Blackjack' training

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Michael Charles
  • Nellis Public Affairs
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. --  When many tourists come to Las Vegas, they rely on blackjack to try and turn their fortunes around.

Pilots who participate in exercises at Nellis Air Force Base also rely on blackjack, but with one major difference: The "Blackjack" pilots rely on is not a card game played in a casino; it's the range monitoring and advisory control system located and operated inside the 98th Range Wing's 98th Operations Support Squadron.

This system monitors all flying activity on 12,000 square miles of airspace and 2.9 million acres of land provided by the Nevada Test and Training Range.

"Blackjack acts as the umpire that enforces airspace authority rules on the Nevada Test and Training Range," said Ronald West, Blackjack supervisor.

With Red Flag taking place at Nellis, it is important to have tools to help each side train for realistic warfare overseas. Red Flag is a combat training exercise that both the U.S. and coalition allies' participate in, with a simulated 1,900 possible targets, realistic threat systems and an opposing enemy force provided by the 64th and 65th Aggressor Squadrons. Operated by the 414th Combat Training Squadron, Red Flag provides combat air forces the ability to train to fight, survive and win together. Blackjack offers each aircraft participating in Red Flag an accurate account of their flying position and provides a comprehensive debriefing tool for combat air force's aircrews who are running the air war.

Normally, scheduling for the range happens up to 90 days before the event execution. After each unit is assigned a section of airspace, Blackjack makes sure the exclusiveness of that area is enforced by the NTTR participating units during the day of execution.

"Could you imagine aircraft dropping bombs in the same area that ground troops are training for a deployment, and with Red Flag happening on top of all that?" Mr. West said. "Blackjack melds the whole executional process of scheduling together so each unit's training doesn't conflict with the others."

One reason Blackjack is so important is that it schedules and coordinates in real-time all aircraft that interact or fly in the air space of the NTTR. Due to the amount of aircraft requesting access to the NTTR and the close proximity to both the Los Angeles and Las Vegas airports, Blackjack, along with the Nellis Air Traffic Control Facility, has become a necessity to de-conflict aircraft so training sites on the NTTR remain safe and undisturbed.

"Here at Blackjack, we act as the line judge(s) on a football team," Mr. West said. "On the range there are no physical borders between exclusive air space notifying pilots of exactly where they are in relation to the edge of their airspace. Because of this, it is easy to accidentally cross over into another units designated area. Our job is to ensure that all aircraft abide by their allotted airspace, so they don't encroach upon each other."

Nellis is home to more than 20 major flying exercises a year and 30,000 sorties a year. With that many aircraft taking off over such a vast amount of airspace, Blackjack offers levels of accuracy needed to correctly evaluate each pilot participating in the various training exercises.

"Blackjack's main duty is to ensure the safety of all units operating on the range," Mr. West said. "There are so many operations happening on the Nevada Test and Training Range, Blackjack acts as the liaison to make sure they are all communicating with each other."

Blackjack's duties don't end with the monitoring of aircraft in the sky. Should a crash occur, or a pilot eject on the NTTR, Blackjack helps with coordinating the rescue of the pilot with first rescue responders on the ground. By giving rapid notification to key operating centers, range leadership and emergency responders, Blackjack gives the appropriate channels sufficient time to save lives on the NTTR.

"Because of our aircraft awareness on the range, should a pilot have to eject we are able to coordinate with military responders and recommend aircraft that could be of help in a rescue effort," Mr. West said.

The training of U.S. and coalition pilots to perform vital tasks in operations overseas is an important part of the exercises performed on the NTTR. Throughout the years, Blackjack has helped provide a safety net for aircraft utilizing this area for training purposes.