The U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Team, the Thunderbirds, perform their demonstration in preparation for the commander of Air Combat Command at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., March 2, 2015. The Thunderbirds perform their show multiple times a year at various locations across the United States. The Thunderbirds have the privilege and responsibility to perform for people all around the world, displaying the pride, precision and professionalism of American Airmen.
 

Participants in an Operation Joint Medic exercise (bottom left) motion their team members for medical support as an HH-60G Pave Hawk assigned to the 66th Rescue Squadron prepares to land at Camp Cobra on Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., March 31, 2015. The simulated mass casualty event forced medical professionals to treat and evaluate injured personnel with minimal resources while simulating being under enemy fire. The medics simulated treatment for minor injuries like cuts to more severe injuries like severed limbs.
 

Defense Secretary (Dr.) Ash Carter addresses Nellis Airmen and coalition partners during an all-call inside the Lightning Aircraft Maintenance Unit hangar on Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Aug. 26, 2015. During the SECDEF’s visit to Nellis AFB, he observed Red Flag 15-4 operations and spoke to Airmen and coalition partners. During the all-call, Carter took questions from service members and addressed issues relating to budgets, force retention, morale, and operational priorities.
 

Col. Richard Boutwell, 99th Air Base Wing commander, speaks at a ground-breaking ceremony for a new solar array on Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., March 24, 2015. The new array will add to the power supply already being produced by the previous array located on the hospital side of Nellis AFB. The 15-megawatt solar project will enable the base to run exclusively on renewable energy during the daylight hours.
 

Two F-15 Eagles assigned to the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron preform a flyover during the national anthem at the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas, Dec. 19, 2015. Approximately 200 Airmen volunteered to hold the flag for the pre-game ceremony. The Airmen who held the flag were afforded the opportunity to stay and watch the game between the Utah Utes and Brigham Young University Cougars.
 

The U.S. Air Force Weapons School’s first F-35A Lightning II and an F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the 16th Weapons Squadron approach the Lake Mead National Recreation Area in route to Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., from the Lockheed Martin plant, Fort Worth, Texas, Jan. 15, 2015. The USAFWS’ first F-35 will be used to drive tactics development and to create the curriculum for the first F-35 weapons instructor course. The first F-35A USAFWS student course is tentatively scheduled for January 2018.
 

U.S. Navy sailors assigned to Electronic Attack Squadron 138, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., perform pre-flight inspections on an EA-18G Growler during Red Flag 15-3 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., July 28, 2015. Since its inception in 1975, Red Flag exercises have tested military members’ combat capabilities in air, space and cyberspace. The Red Flag iterations of 2015 marked the 40th anniversary of the exercise.
 

A representative from Coral Academy of Science Las Vegas (right) answers a question from a participant in the public charter school town hall at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Dec. 15, 2015. Col. Richard Boutwell, 99th Air Base Wing commander, and the CASLV reps provided approximately 200 audience members information and answers to pressing questions about the on-base elementary school’s upcoming transition from the Clark County School District to CASLV. Lomie G. Heard Elementary School, the current on-base school which was constructed on Nellis AFB in 1951, will no
longer be part of CCSD at the end of the 2015-2016 school year.
 

Joint terminal attack controllers assigned to the 7th Air Support Operations Squadron, Fort Bliss, Texas, use radios to direct the pilot of an F-16 Fighting Falcon toward designated targets during a Green Flag 15-08 training scenario at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., June 12, 2015. When the first five graduates of the U.S. Air Force Weapons School’s JTAC Weapons Instructor Course received their diplomas during the USAFWS class 15-A graduation June 27, they were also awarded the coveted graduate patch of the USAFWS. Those graduates joined 24 JTAC Advanced Instructor Course graduates who also received patches as the first and only enlisted patch wearers in the school’s 66-year history.
 

Retired Chief Master Sgt. Paul Koester, former 58th Rescue Squadron chief enlisted manager, gives Airmen guidance on how to take down a target at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Oct. 22, 2015. Koester retired Oct. 31 after serving 41 years in the Air Force. At the time of his retirement, Koester was the oldest enlisted member actively serving in the Air Force, as well as the longest serving Pararescue Airman in U.S. Air Force history.
 

Kristina Morin, 2015 U.S. Air Force Trials participant, heads toward the finish line of a 1,500-meter race at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., March 3, 2015. During the trials, more than 100 wounded, ill or injured service members from around the country competed for a spot on the 2015 U.S. Air Force Wounded Warrior Team, which represented the Air Force at adaptive sports events throughout the year. The trials are intended to promote the health and wellness of seriously ill and injured service members.
 

Airmen assigned to the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., watch as an A-10 Thunderbolt II lands in support of Green Flag-West 15-08 on the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., July 16, 2015. This event marked the first time A-10 pilots in a Green Flag-West training exercise landed at the NTC and met face-to-face with an Army ground commander. This austere field landing helped display the capabilities and integration the Air Force and Army can offer.