Military exercise to play out high above Spencer

(Photo submitted) Beginning Tuesday, the Iowa Air National Guard will be participating in a training exercise called Badger Denial. Military aircraft may be flying at lower altitudes as part of the training.

Beginning Tuesday, the Iowa Air National Guard is participating in "Badger Denial" a joint exercise to prepare for the multi-faceted combat missions overseas.

As part of the process, the military will establish a temporary aerial operating area within a 30-mile radius of Des Moines at approximately 10,000 feet to 18,000 feet. An additional operating area, at approximately 8,000 feet, which may extend as low as 3,000 feet in a rectangular area is situated in northwest Iowa.

"We just want to make the public aware that this training was going on," said Maj. Michael Wunn, the public affairs officer for the Iowa National Guard. "Because of the nature of the training, some of the activities will be a little bit more visible to the public than normal."

Iowa Air National Guard F-16 fighter aircraft from the 132nd Fighter Wing in Des Moines will be operating over much of northwest Iowa, from Carroll to the Minnesota border, and from Fort Dodge to west of Storm Lake. People may also see red flares in the sky, especially at night, that look like fireworks.

KC-135 tanker aircraft from the Iowa Air National Guard's 185th Air Refueling Wing in Sioux City, and other units, will be operating in areas from Spencer to Estherville.

The tankers will be conducting refueling operations with F-16 fighter aircraft above 20,000 feet, but it may be possible to observe their missions. There may also be flares associated with the refueling operations.

During the process, a boom comes out of the back of the KC-135 and the F-16 fighters will come up behind the tanker for fueling. The process is brief and from that altitude, Wunn said it would be difficult to see anything beyond an F-16 in close proximity to the back of the KC-135.

"It's really pretty amazing when you think about the speed they're operating at and the size of the aircraft and all of the things they have to do," he said. "Literally, there's an individual in the back of that KC-135 who steers, with a little joystick or controller, that boom."

Lower flights over the three-week period are intended at a training exercise for ground reconnaissance for the pilots.

"In addition to that, there may be some government vehicles -- military-type vehicles -- that will be out and about that we'll be working with," Wunn said.

Most of the ground vehicles will travel the roads between Carroll and Cherokee.

The Air Guard's participation in the Global War on Terror requires joint reconnaissance and combat support missions. The missions, and certain "Close Air Support" operations, require lower altitudes not currently available in Military Operating Areas, or MAOs.

"The F-16s are a pretty neat aircraft and you can't always see what they're doing, but we anticipate, during this training, that they'll be at lower altitudes and people will be able to observe that, Wunn said.

"Then, some of it will also be later in the evening and there may be some flares and other things that would indicate activity going on. People might not understand what it is: It's something out of the ordinary. If they see that, we just want them to understand it's a military training being conducted."