March 27, 2008
Urban Close Air Support Training

By Dave Maxwell, Staff Writer

In September 2007, the U.S. Air Force from Nellis Air Base shot up Caliente and nobody even knew about it. However, that’s not entirely accurate. Like this year, the Air Force did inform the respective governing boards, or councils, of each town in the County that Urban Close Air Support Training will be taking place. The two-week bi-annual event will take place April 9-22 over Caliente, Panaca and Alamo and probably again in September. Captain Travis Ohlenberg, presented the plan to the Caliente City Council on March 20.

Urban Close Air Support trains pilots to work together to identify and destroy enemy personnel, vehicles and buildings. Aircraft will stay at least 4,000 feet above the towns and will not fly supersonic. Ground controllers will use radios and GPS equipment to guide pilots to simulated targets. No live munitions will be carried by the aircraft or ground controllers. No lasers will be used by aircraft or ground crews.

Part of the reason for the training, as stated by one Air Force official in 2007, is that it is very hard to get air power on to a particular environment. “The fifth building in a row of twenty is very hard to distinguish when you are flying at 50,000 feet,” he said.