What’s that booming? Weeks of Air Force exercises set to conclude

In this file photo, four F-15E Strike Eagles assigned to the 366th Fighter Wing, Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, fly during a Red Flag 15-3 sortie at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, July 17, 2015 | Photo by Staff Sgt. Siuta B. Ika, courtesy of the U.S. Air Force, St. George News

ST. GEORGE – If you’ve experienced any shaking, rattling or booming over the last few weeks, it’s likely due to activity out of Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada that is set to conclude Friday.

Nellis has been conducting a “Green Flag” exercise since Oct. 19, according to a news release from the base.

“The Green Flag exercise is a close air support and joint exercise administered by the 57th Wing and is primarily conducted in conjunction with U.S. Army Combat Training Center Exercises at Fort Irwin, Calif.,” the release states.

The purpose of the exercise is to provide combat training to joint and coalition fighters in the art of air-land integration and the joint employment of air power.

The 549th Combat Training Squadron is responsible for executing Green Flag, and this exercise is one of a series of advanced training programs administered at Nellis Air Force Base by organizations assigned to the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center.

Nellis holds such exercises throughout the year. Among the more notable – which also tends to cause the most racket – is “Red Flag.”

Red Flag is a realistic combat training exercise involving the air, space and cyberforces of the U.S. and its allies. The exercise takes place north of Las Vegas at the Nevada Test and Training Range, the Air Force’s premier military training area with more than 15,000 square miles of airspace and 2.9 million acres of land.

This and similar training exercises tend to be heard – and felt – across the state line and into southwest Utah.

The most recent Red Flag exercise was held in July.

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Twitter: @MoriKessler

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2017, all rights reserved.

 

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1 Comment

  • Caveat_Emptor November 2, 2017 at 3:23 pm

    These training exercises do not appear to be top secret, so perhaps a heads up in advance of the start, would be warranted. We guess that the cause of the loud booms is bombing exercises, once they occur. This article could have been prepared at the beginning of the exercises, with an approximate end date. Just sayin’………

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