NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. - The 124th Fighter Wing arrived at Nellis Air Force Base Oct. 24 for the Green Flag West exercise.
GFW ensures the 124FW is operationally ready to provide joint ground support to its NATO partners globally. During this exercise, the wing based at Gowen Field in Boise, Idaho, will directly support the U.S. Army’s National Training Center efforts in Fort Irwin, California.
“The 124FW is participating in GFW as a major part of our combat training,” said Lt. Col. Daniel Benfield, the exercise officer in charge of the 124th Maintenance Group. “We will be integrating with an Army brigade combat team conducting large-scale, force-on-force ground operations to provide joint fire, close-air-support, and combat search and rescue operations.”
Preparing for combat during a time of great power competition requires training with NATO partners and other services.
GFW is facilitated by Air Combat Command through the 549th Combat Training Squadron and promotes a total force approach to pre-deployment certification training. In addition to its support of the NTC, the 124FW will be working closely with the U.S. Navy off the coast of California.
The wing will work with ground forces and support airborne operations in maritime surface warfare training, Benfield said.
“The men and women of 124MXG will be hard at work throughout the exercise to generate aircraft and load munitions to support our deployment spin-up training objectives,” he said.
Maintenance and pilots from the 190th Fighter Squadron will be preparing for the near-peer fight during GFW. Together, they are Always Ready, Always There.