Checkered Flag at Tyndall Air Force Base

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - If you have heard the roar of jets over the Gulf of Mexico the past couple of days, that was some training going on out at Tyndall Air Force Base.

The training, better known as Checkered Flag, is the largest air-to-air exercise in the Department of Defense. It only happens twice a year.

Both the Air Force and Navy come together to simulate how to work alongside each other if combat were to happen.

More than 70 fighter jets and 2,000 personnel from all over station at Tyndall for two weeks.

“The way we expect to fight in combat is to bring units from all over the DOD, all over the country, all over the world together and operate jointly,” said Lieutenant Colonel David Delmage of the United States Air Force. “That’s what we’re testing here. We don’t expect to fight with just our local units.

Tyndall provides a base to do this training that you can’t find many other places.

“Tyndall has a great facility, great base services, as well as more specifically the ranges that we’re able to execute and the support services,” said O-5 Commander Brian Broadwater of the United States Navy. “But also just the local community to provide some of the fun in the sun and that type of stuff that we’re able to enjoy that we typically don’t back home.”

During the second part of this training, personnel will practice loading actual missiles on jets and fighter jets will simulate air combat.