MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz. -- A group of Yuma Marines returned July 3, 2009, from a 10-day nationwide training event at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, N.M.
The six Marines, from Marine Air Control Squadron 1’s tactical air operations center, were the first Marines to participate in exercise Virtual Flag, which simulates air defense missions in a joint or coalition setting.
The event is run on a nationwide network, which allows air defense operators to interact and work with pilots in flight simulators in 22 locations throughout the country, from Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif., to Langley AFB, Va.
More than 600 U.S. and foreign service members participate in each Virtual Flag. The exercise is based at Kirtland AFB and has been training aviation forces with large-scale simulations since 2003.
The simulations enabled the TAOC crew to practice using different equipment and communicating with the different types of aircraft and agencies they might work with deployed.
“We can see the planes in the air with our radar, and we differentiate between friendly aircraft and enemy aircraft and label them so the other air control agencies can see them,” said 1st Lt. Ramon Gonzalez, MACS-1 air defense control officer.
MACS-1 is responsible for ground-based air surveillance, anti-air warfare and airspace management during deployments. The squadron’s tasks can range from directing planes to aerial refuelers to feeding enemy coordinates to friendly aircraft.
A combination of fighter, fuel tanker and surveillance plane simulators creates a realistic environment without the complications of an actual exercise, said Capt. Michael Ahlstrom, MACS-1 TAOC officer in charge.
“With this exercise, you get a lot of the training without a lot of the costs of a real exercise,” said Ahlstrom.
The squadron’s TAOC plans to continue participating in Virtual Flag exercises throughout the year, eventually taking part in Red Flag, another training event at Kirtland AFB, which involves the same operations with real aircraft.
MACS-1 receives the majority of its training throughout the year during the station’s two Weapons and Tactics Instructor courses, said Ahlstrom. The squadron plans to extensively increase its training load by incorporating the four Virtual Flag and five Red Flag exercises each year.
“It’s good because, unlike WTI, which is pretty much the same scenario every year, this exercise mixes it up and also includes Air Force, Army, Navy and coalition forces,” said Gonzalez.
The squadron plans to eventually commit as many as 30 Marines to the training event.