“And that you get from Nellis. No other range is like it. No other range can bring airmen up to the level of proficiency that is possible to practice here.”
—Secretary of Defense Ash Carter
This week’s members-only post feels a bit like stepping into the hush of a hangar after hours—where the doors are closed, the lights are low, and the conversations can finally go deeper. These Midweek Sortie pieces give me room to explore corners of aviation I don’t normally dive into during the regular newsletter, the places where doctrine, history, and the art of flying all collide.
And few topics earn that treatment better than Nellis Air Force Base. It’s a place that has shaped generations of aviators, tactics, and technology—far beyond what most people ever see. Today, we’re heading into that story, past the desert heat and afterburner thunder, to understand why Nellis stands at the very center of America’s advanced combat aviation training.
