Red Flag-Nellis and Red Flag-Alaska will be complimentary and compatible, but will not be the same, said Brig. Gen. Dave Scott, commander of the 354th Fighter Wing at Eielson AFB, Alaska. Red Flag-Alaska will not mimic the exercise at Nellis, but rather “tie into Nellis” and use its expertise to build up operation plans in Alaska. “We’re starting from new,” Scott told reporters at the Pentagon Tuesday and added, “We need to build up to the Nellis level.” Scott said, “We are executors at Eielson” who will work at the tactical operations level, while Nellis will be responsible for the strategic operations for the Red Flag exercises. Nellis also will be the “schoolhouse” for teaching all aggressor personnel, those Air Force personnel who operate as “the enemy” during exercises, so that they can “fly airplanes anywhere,” Scott explained. After training at Nellis, Alaska’s aggressor squadron plans to declare initial operational capability in March 2008.
President Donald Trump on July 4 signed into law $150 billion in defense funds as part of the tax-and-spending package known as the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” after congressional Republicans approved the legislation in narrow, drawn-out votes earlier this week.
