SEPTEMBER 2, 2016, NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. (AFNS) – Since its inception in 1975, Red Flag has served as the pinnacle of air-to-air combat training for the Air Force and its allies.
For the Spanish Air Force, Red Flag 16-4 has been the perfect avenue to receive the best training for their aircrews and support personnel, as well as an avenue for overcoming unique challenges that aren’t always experienced in European exercises.
“With most of our experience coming from European exercises, we have mostly a European outlook,” said Spanish Air Force Capt. Dario Perez, an EF-18M pilot. “Working with the United States Air Force aircraft and its allies serves as a great chance to train in a non-European venue, and broaden our views.”
In order to expand their views, communication between allies can be a challenge for Spanish Air Forces, but at Red Flag this has not turned out to be a roadblock.
“As we are standardized with NATO everyone speaks the same language while we train,” said Spanish Air Force Capt. Esteve Ferran, a pilot. “With the NATO documents we use, everyone is on the same page and on the same sheet of music at all times. Like last time we were here in 2008 the exercise proved to be difficult at first, but once we got rolling it was excellent.”
Once settled in, Red Flag 16-4 offered unique trials for Spanish Air Force pilots and crews to overcome.
“While the Red Flag exercise here is similar to the exercises that we encounter in Europe, the surface-to-air threats that are part of Red Flag are top notch and always serve as a challenge,” Perez said.
While the surface-to-air threats that pilots face here at Red Flag 16-4 serve as a valuable aspect of training, they aren’t the only facet of Red Flag valuable for aircrews.
“Tactically speaking, the surface-to-air threats are top notch,” Ferran said. “Also, the ability to use live ordnance in training is something that we don’t always get access to when we participate in European exercises.”
With all of these benefits of Red Flag’s training there are also multiple challenges that aircrews have had to face.
“One of the most difficult things about this exercise has been the act of deploying all of our assets here,” Ferran said. “It has been difficult, and staging out of Nellis was the first challenge we faced. Then, the night operations of Red Flag have also been a challenge. There is a nine-hour difference between the time zones and so when we finish operations we then have briefings at 3 a.m. It gets tiring and becomes a challenge and is something that we don’t see in European exercises.”
While these challenges, coupled with the tests of the monsoon weather that Las Vegas has brought to Red Flag 16-4, have presented Spanish air force with obstacles, they haven’t stopped pilots and aircrews from overcoming them.
Taking these obstacles in stride, the Spanish Air Force has used one of the premier air-to-air exercises that the Air Force offers to gain excellent training experience for aircrews.