Maj. Mark Bigley, 50th Space Wing weapons and tactics officer, was close enough to smell jet exhaust and hear fighter planes take off from a nearby runway.
He said that moment brought a stark reality to the exercise he was participating in and that it was easy for him and the other 50th Operations Group space professionals who participated in Red Flag 13-3 to imagine exactly how such a scene could occur during an actual combat operation.
Bigley and six of his fellow space professionals spent more than three weeks at the large-force exercise held annually at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and upon reflection, relished every minute.
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