Air Combat Command today entered the F-22A stealth fighter in its first Red Flag exercise, the first one of 2007 and dubbed “Colonial Flag.” This four-week Red Flag exercise comprises more than 200 aircraft—B-1B, B-2, F-15E, F-22, F-117, and British Tornado and Australian F-111—and some 5,200 military personnel. Exercise team chief, Capt. James Govin of the 414th Combat Training Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nev., said the Raptor would serve primarily in an air-to-air role but would demonstrate some of its air-to-ground capability. The exercise concludes in mid-February, taking a one week break midway to rotate aircraft and crews in and out.
The Air Force kicked off one of its biggest exercises this week with the latest edition of Bamboo Eagle, featuring combined virtual and live training scenarios focused on test the command-and-control “nervous system” leaders need to operate on a complex joint battlefield spread over vast distances.
