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8 August 12, 2016 News BULLSEYE
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U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Nathan Byrnes
A soldier works at his desk in the mezzanine during a Blue Flag exercise at the 505th Combat Training Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla., July 22. The purpose of a Blue Flag exercise is
to provide a Numbered Air Force the environment to train as the air and space component of a joint force by planning air and space operations and producing Air Tasking Orders
and other supporting products for a given con ict.
War Games: Blue Flag provides operational
level command, control training
By Airman 1st Class Nathan Byrnes “ is is followed by a computer-assisted It’s easy to see the importance of Blue complexity of the scenarios and can be
exercise using actual friendly and enemy Flag throughout its 40-year history as it tailored to the participants needs. Blue
99th Air Base Wing Public A airs orders of battle, contingency and war has played an important role in prepar- Flag is continuously evolving to meet the
plans and theater-focused tactics, tech- ing commands for war and humanitar- training challenges of today.
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. — e mis- niques and procedures in a simulated ian operations.
sion of the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center environment.” “We will continue to support air
is to develop innovative leaders and full Blue Flag exercises are able to do so component training with the Blue Flag
spectrum capabilities through respon- e purpose of a Blue Flag exercise by trying to mimic real-world theater program,” said Green. “ is gives us
sive, realistic and relevant testing, tactics is to provide a numbered Air Force the conditions and procedures as closely as the exibility that we need to meet the
development, and advanced training environment to train as the air and space possible. training challenges of today. We will
across all levels of war. Blue Flag is a key component of a joint force by planning continue to do this with a distributed
exercise in helping to prepare leaders and air and space operations and producing “ e goal is to train commanders and training methods and technical re-
achieve the overall USAFWC mission. air tasking orders and other supporting sta o cers on command and control sources that allow us to make the sce-
products for a given con ict. systems and processes so that, in a war narios as realistic as possible using out
Blue Flag is an Air Combat Command emergency, they can immediately par- simulation tools.”
exercise that provides air, space and cy- “We conduce Blue Flag in the third ticipate.
berspace training for coalition air com- domain of simulation training, the e USAFWC’s vision of a team of
ponents and other services in the live, constructive domain,” said Green. “A “As they exercise through this they are proud, professional and highly skilled
virtual and constructive environments. constructive simulation includes people able to make better decisions and they Airmen who through innovation in u-
operating simulated systems. Real people can say ‘I’ve seen this before’ or ‘I re- ence and support the USAF and joint
e 505th Combat Training Squad- make inputs to such simulations, but member something like this happened’. partners with responsive, realistic and
ron at Nellis AFB is ACC’s executive are not involved in determining the And they are able to work through the relevant testing, tactics development, and
agent for the planning and execution outcomes.” decision making process because we training across air, space and cyberspace
of the Blue Flag program and provides have already seen it once instead of be- domains is clearly on display during
environments for operational level com- “A constructive simulation is a com- ing surprised,” said Col. Bryan Gates Blue Flag exercises and is an example
mand and control training, testing and puter program. For example, a military 505th Command and Control Wing of leading and in uencing the develop-
experimentation. user may input data instructing a unit Commander.” ment and execution of Live, Virtual and
to move and to engage an enemy target. Constructive Operational Testing and
“ e 505th CTS provides training, As technology advances and di erent Advanced Training.
focusing on the people, processes and e constructive simulation determines types of threats are developed, Blue Flag
systems used by Air Operations Centers the speed of movement, the e ect of en- is continually evolving to encompass The next Blue Flag exercise will be
and Air Force Forces sta s,” said Lt. Col. gagement with the enemy and any battle these aspects of war. Each exercise can April of 2017.
Merrick Green, 505th CTS commander. damage that may occur.” take more than a year to plan due to the
