This spring's annual Air Force Red Flag exercises will be a week longer than usual, lasting three weeks instead of two. Major Ford Robinson spoke to the Alamo Town Board February 18 and said the exercises will be held February 23 to March 6.
In addition, this year the exercise will be held in conjunction with U.S. Army forces and involve a few Patriot missile batteries. The same type of exercise was conducted in the Pahranagat and Delamar Valley areas in 2005. Major Robinson explained the Army will have a compound of Patriot missile batteries stationed in the Delamar Valley that are set to simulate the shooting down of enemy planes with the surface-to-air Patriot missiles. He said the missile batteries, manned by about 40 personnel per site, would be situated about 10 miles apart.
