Checkered Flag 18-1 begins

By Senior Airman Solomon Cook, 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs / Published November 07, 2017

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A U.S. Air Force Airman from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, inspects the canopy of an F-15 Eagle cockpit prior to the arrival of its pilot on the flightline at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., Nov. 7, 2017. Airmen from Mountain Home and more than seven other Air Force installations start their days in the early morning hours for Checkered Flag 18-1 and the concurrently running Weapon Systems Evaluation Program, Combat Archer, to maximize the available time to train during the two week long large-scale exercise that integrates the war-fighting power of both fourth- and fifth- generation aircraft with a focus on training for current and future conflicts. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Solomon Cook/Released)

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A U.S. Air Force Airman walks down the flightline pushing a cart of tools at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., Nov. 7, 2017. Airmen from more than eight Air Force installations across the United States converged to Tyndall to take part in Checkered Flag 18-1, a two week long large-scale exercise that integrates the war-fighting power of both fourth- and fifth- generation aircraft and the concurrently running Weapon Systems Evaluation Program, Combat Archer, allowing for a maximum amount of training for a lessened cost to the U.S. taxpayers. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Solomon Cook/Released)

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U.S Air Force Airmen from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., and Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho, begin their day of work shortly after being dropped off on the flightline at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., Nov. 7, 2017. Airmen from more than eight bases across the United States were sent on a temporary duty assignment to Tyndall to participate in Checkered Flag 18-1, a two week long large-scale exercise that integrates the war-fighting power of both fourth- and fifth- generation aircraft, and the concurrently running Weapon Systems Evaluation Program, Combat Archer. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Solomon Cook/Released)

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U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagles from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho and F-16 Falcons from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., sit on the flightline at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., prior to flying sorties Nov. 7, 2017. Airmen and aircraft from Mountain Home and Shaw came to Tyndall to take part in Checkered Flag 18-1, a two week long large-scale exercise that integrates the war-fighting power of both fourth- and fifth- generation aircraft with a focus on training for current and future conflicts. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Solomon Cook/Released)

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --

As the last of Tyndall’s partners arrived for Checkered Flag 18-1, the two-week exercise officially began and will last until Nov. 17, 2017.

Checkered Flags are a brand of exercises that focus on large-scale, aerial total-force exercises that combines fourth- and fifth-generation airframes to enhance the capabilities of Airmen while providing training to rapidly respond to current, real-world conflicts and preparing for the future of air superiority.

“Checkered Flag allows us work in an efficient manner in order to do training that we can’t do all the time,” said Lt. Col. Daniel Lee, 44th Fighter Group deputy commander and Checkered Flag 18-1 Air Expeditionary Wing vice commander. “In particular, there is a 5th-generation fighter aircraft integration piece that is brought to Checkered Flag that is not available at any other Air Force exercise.

“By that, I’m talking about F-22 [Raptors] operating with F-35 [Lightning IIs]. There is also a fourth- and fifth-generation integration where F-15 Eagles, F-18 Hornets, F-16 Fighting Falcons and other Air Force resources learn to operate with the unique capabilities that stealth aircraft bring into the mix,” he further explained.

Tyndall is an ideal place for exercises such as Checkered Flag 18-1 for a host of reasons, one such being location.

“What we have in our Checkered Flag airspace is an overwater range that affords us the opportunity to be fully supersonic down to the ground,” Lee said. “This is not a capability that we have on a large-scale at any other ranges within the United States.”

Lee went on to elaborate further about the unique aspects of the exercise.

“We train to a peer-level adversary in a way that is not immediately available to us like in other large-scale exercises,” he said. “We will have F-22s and F-35s simulating adversary for not just the current conflict, but future conflicts. That is training not available to us at any of the other exercises the Air Force has because resources are scarce when it comes to having F-22s and F-35s as adversaries.”

During the exercise, Tyndall will host the following units: 525th Fighter Squadron, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; 131st Fighter Squadron, Barnes Municipal Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts; 389th Fighter Squadron, Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho; 79th Fighter Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina; 552nd Air Control Wing, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma; 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri; and 116th ACW, Robins Air Force Base, Georgia.

As the exercise intensifies, Tyndall and their partners will train and demonstrate the Air Force competencies of maintaining air superiority, both currently and in the future, which requires investment in technology and in the training on that technology.