An F-15E Strike Eagle from the 335th Fighter Squadron catches the glint of some Las Vegas afternoon sun as the big fighter-bomber launches for an air interdiction mission at Nellis AFB in March, 2019. Part of the BLUE TEAM strike package, this jet and her crew will try to accurately deliver their 'war-load' on a pre-planned target, somewhere in the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR).  Their mission is part of the USAF major combat training exercise: RED FLAG 19-2. 

Of course, defensive fighter adversaries, known as 'RED AIR', will try to intercept and infiltrate the strikers' formations to thwart the mock attack. The ultra-realistic training offered during a RED FLAG exercise is priceless for these combat-ready aircrews. It is said that lessons learned here -- in this highly contested airspace; criss-crossing with fast moving jets, both friend and foe; ‘mixing it up’ with large numbers of dissimilar combat aircraft, each applying maximum use of training and tactics -- will make the initial missions of actual combat vastly more survivable. That survivability edge, is the primary purpose of exercise Red Flag at Nellis AFB. It is why they call the place:

'The Home of the Fighter Pilot'

Known as the ‘CHIEFS’, this famous unit is one of four flying squadrons under the 4th Fighter Group/4th Fighter Wing based at Seymour Johnson AFB in South Carolina. They can trace their origins back to No. 121 Squadron, Royal Air Force (RAF), reformed in May of 1941 from a disbanded World War I squadron. They became the second of three ‘Eagle Squadrons’ manned by American volunteers, flying Hurricanes (and later, Spitfires) in combat operations with the RAF, prior to the U.S. entry into World War II. In fact, their emblem -- the profile of a Native American tribal Chief with full ceremonial headdress -- was adopted from the original 121 Squadron RAF crest when the Eagle Squadrons were transferred to the U.S. Army Air Force in September of 1942 and the 355th FS was formed.

Today, the 335th ‘CHIEFS’ are a proud, potent, mainstay asset for the long range interdiction, offensive strike capability of Air Combat Command and the USAF.

The 2017 Selfridge Air National Guard Base Open House and Air Show celebrated the amazing milestone of 100 years in continuous operation as a military air field!  To mark the occasion in perfect style, the home-based 107th Fighter Squadron set aside one of their Thunderbolt II jets to transform its ghost gray camouflage into a truly stunning, commemorative scheme.

Mimicking the WWII standard Army Air Corps 'olive drab-over-gray' camouflage, the A-10C was finished to represent the P-51A Mustangs flown in combat by the 107th, leading up to and during the D-Day invasion of June, 1944.  The striking paint scheme was capped off with full D-Day Invasion stripes, applied in the same manner as those adorning allied aircraft during the invasion offensive.  Half of the fuselage on each side of this one-of-a-kind Warthog, provides the perfect 'canvas' for a giant rendering of a stylized winged-devil figure in red; the embodiment of the unit’s official patch and squadron name: THE RED DEVILS.

In November of 1943, while stationed at RAF Membury, England, this distinguished flying unit was designated the 107th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron and tasked with the dangerous job of gathering aerial photographs of German fortifications and war assets along the coastline of France, to support preparations for what would be the D-Day allied invasion of Normandy.   The modern-day 107th Fighter Squadron falls under the command of Michigan ANG’s 127th Wing and traces its roots all the way back to the formation of the 107th Aero Squadron in August of 1917.  It is one of the oldest squadrons in the USAF.

At the time of the 2017 air show, Selfridge Air National Guard Base was one of the sites being considered for operation of the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II within the Air National Guard.  As a nod to that possibility, air show organizers were able to arrange a very rare flypast feature -- joining the commemorative Red Devils A-10C with a visiting Lightning II (F-35A) from the 466th FS at Hill AFB, Utah.