Silver Flag training exercise provides United States Air Force Civil Engineers with a training venue in a contingency environment that focuses on hands-on technical experience for high-demand, contingency tools and equipment generally not available at home station. Standardized curriculum is managed through the Air Force Civil Engineer Center (AFCEC).
Silver Flag training exercise focuses on bare base beddown, sustainment operations and recovery after attack. The following elements are part of the training covered during Silver Flag:
Silver Flag is available at three USAF training sites:
Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located 12 miles (19 km) east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt. Frank Benjamin Tyndall. The base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing of the Air Combat Command (ACC). The base hosts 2,902 active duty members. In October 2018, Hurricane Michael caused significant damage to the base.
Nellis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada. Nellis hosts air combat exercises such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in "Military Operations Area (MOA) airspace", associated with the nearby Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR). The base also has the Combined Air and Space Operations Center-Nellis.
Holloman Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base established in 1942 located six miles (10 km) southwest of the central business district of Alamogordo, which is the county seat of Otero County, New Mexico, United States. The base was named in honor of Col. George V. Holloman, a pioneer in guided missile research. It is the home of the 49th Wing of the Air Education and Training Command (AETC).
Creech Air Force Base is a United States Air Force (USAF) command and control facility in Clark County, Nevada used "to engage in daily Overseas Contingency Operations …of remotely piloted aircraft systems which fly missions across the globe." In addition to an airport, the military installation has the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Battlelab, associated aerial warfare ground equipment, and unmanned aerial vehicles of the type used in Afghanistan and Iraq. Creech is the aerial training site for the USAF Thunderbirds and "is one of two emergency divert airfields" for the Nevada Test and Training Range.
Royal Air Force Woodbridge, or more simply RAF Woodbridge, is a former Royal Air Force station located east of Woodbridge in the county of Suffolk, England.
Apalachicola Regional Airport is a county-owned, public-use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) west of the central business district of Apalachicola, a city in Franklin County, Florida, United States. It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility. It was previously known as Apalachicola Municipal Airport. The airport supports general aviation activity in the area and provides service via a tenant fixed-base operator (FBO).
MDP Wethersfield is a Ministry of Defence facility in Essex, England, located north of the village of Wethersfield, about 6 mi (9.7 km) north-west of the town of Braintree. Originally an RAF station, the site was later used as the headquarters and training centre of the Ministry of Defence Police until 2022. It now houses asylum seekers.
Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineer squadrons are the United States Air Force's heavy-construction units. Their combat engineering capabilities are similar to those of the U.S. Navy Seabees and U.S. Army heavy-construction organizations.
The 21st Wing is an inactive wing of the United States Air Force.
The 86th Airlift Wing is a United States Air Force wing, currently assigned to the Third Air Force, United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. The 86th AW is stationed at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
The 820th Base Defense Group is the United States Air Force's only first-in, fully-integrated, world-wide deployable, base defense capability currently based at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. The BDG was re-activated in 1997 and is composed of three rapidly-deployable Base Defense Squadrons, and the 820th Combat Operations Squadron. Each multi-functional BDS contains security forces, intelligence, EOD, engineering, communications, medical, logistics, and administration personnel able to operate with limited support from other deployed forces, as part of the Department of Defense's Immediate Response Force (IRF). Currently, the 820th BDG has been placed under Air Combat Commands only lead wing. The unit is trained and equipped to perform joint forceable entry, RANGER, Jungle, Arctic, Mountain, Pathfinder, SAPPR, FRIES/SPIES, Sniper Support, airfield security assessments, base defense, area defense, mobile defense, and C2 of defense forces for one large base or several small sites. Additionally, the squadrons can link with other integrated defense or initial entry/base seizure forces and provide a secure and smooth transition to airfield opening forces.
The 621st Contingency Response Wing is a United States Air Force rapid response expeditionary wing, based out of the McGuire Air Force Base entity of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey and Travis Air Force Base, California highly-specialized in training and rapidly deploying personnel globally to quickly open airfields and establish, expand, sustain, and coordinate air mobility operations during a variety of contingency operations.
The Florida Air National Guard is the aerial militia of the State of Florida. It is, along with the Florida Army National Guard, an element of the Florida National Guard. It is also an element of the Air National Guard (ANG) at the national level, falling in with the Army National Guard (ARNG) as part of the greater United States National Guard under the National Guard Bureau (NGB).
Cross City Air Force Station is a former United States Air Force facility, located 1.6 miles (2.6 km) east of Cross City, Florida.
The 44th Fighter Group is an Air Reserve Component (ARC) unit of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the Tenth Air Force, Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The 44 FG is an associate unit of the active duty 325th Fighter Wing of the Air Combat Command (ACC). If mobilized to active duty, the 44 FG is operationally gained by ACC. Otherwise, the 44 FG operates as a geographically separated unit (GSU) of AFRC's 301st Fighter Wing at NAS JRB Fort Worth, Texas.
A Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force is a rapidly deployable, specialized civil engineer unit of the United States Air Force. Prime BEEFs provide a full range of engineering support required to establish, operate, and maintain garrison and contingency airbases.
Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center is a Michigan Air National Guard training facility. It is located 7.1 miles (11.4 km) west-northwest of Alpena, Michigan.
The 819th RED HORSE Squadron is a unit of civil engineers based at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, who are responsible for heavy duty repairs around the world. Originally activated at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, the unit has been active and inactive at several different bases over the last 55 years. The unit was most recently activated as the first ever Air Force-Air National Guard RED HORSE associate unit at Malmstrom on 1 June 1997. The unit is ready at all times to fully deploy to anywhere in the world and remain stationed for an indefinite amount of time. The squadron's most notable deployment was in Vietnam, where it received numerous awards for its work during the war.
Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center is a United States Air Force training center, located at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, Mississippi. It is located 5 miles (8.0 km) north-northeast of Gulfport, Mississippi.
The 4th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command's Ninth Air Force. It is stationed at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, North Carolina, where it is also the host unit.