A:
In terms of actual acreage, Nellis (3.1 square miles) and Creech (1.9 square miles) Air Force bases, the Naval Air Station in Fallon (12.3 square miles), and the Hawthorne Army Depot (235 square miles) account for a mere 252.3 square miles of Nevada’s total 110,567 square miles (0.00228).
However, if you include the Nevada Test and Training Range around Nellis (4,800 square miles) and the Fallon Training Range (390 square miles), that total grows by a factor of 123. (The Nevada Test Site is controlled by the Department of Energy, not the Department of Defense.) A handful of small restricted military areas add another roughly 28 square miles. So all in all, actual bases and related land add up to approximately 5,470 square miles, which is still less than one-half of one percent.
Now, the military also controls 10,000 square miles of restricted airspace around the Nellis Range and 13,000 square miles of airspace around the Fallon Range, though that doesn’t translate into land area.
A few interesting facts: The annual average 40,000 flights out of Nellis account for 75% of the Air Force’s total training operations; up to 3.6 million pounds of explosives are consumed in the training every year, though we’re told that only 5%-10% of the range is bombed out.
Naval Air Station Fallon hosts the Navy Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun) and trains the best fighter pilots in the world. Its 14,000-foot-long runway is the Navy’s longest and could land the Space Shuttle in an emergency.
The Hawthorne Army Depot is the largest ammunition dump in the world, with 2,400 buildings and structures (with 7.7 million square feet of storage space). The Depot also houses a demilitarization facility on 160 acres that disarms 10 million pounds of explosives annually.
Update 30 April 2010
Thanks to two vets who wrote in with further info:
"I retired from the Air Force in Sept 2000 and noticed an error in the 30 Apr 10 QOD. The article states that the 40,000 flights coming out of Nellis account for 75% of all Air Force training. The number of flights is correct, but the percentage of the total is off. Luke Air Force Base in Phoenix is the home of 8 training squadrons. Each squadron flies approximately 20 sorties a day, 5 days a week, at least 50 weeks a year. Doing the math results in a total of 40,000 sorties a year. On top of that, there are several other Air Force units dedicated to pilot training (initial flight screening, undergraduate pilot training, fighter lead-in training). Additionaly, all operational units that are not deployed to conflict areas conduct training flights every day. A single fighter squadron will fly at least 20 training sorties a day, or about 5,000 a year. The 40,000 flights that originate at Nellis is a significant number, but is much
less than 75% of the total Air Force training flights conducted each year."
"'Top Gun trains the best fighter pilots in the world'? That would be open for debate.
The Air Force Weapons Training School at Nellis AFB has been known to turn out some mighty fine pilots.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Force_Weapons_School
Nellis is also home of the 527th Fighter Squarron also know as an "Agressor" squadron which are the "enemy" that the Weapons School trains against.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aggressor_squadron
Nellis is also home to "Red Flag" excercises. I believe these are some of the largest aerial war games conducted in the world.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Flag_(USAF)
Nellis is also home to the "Thunderbirds" the USAF Demonstration Team.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAF_Thunderbirds"
No part of this answer may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher.
