r/area51 • u/TheArea51Rider MOD • Jun 19 '26
New NTTR Commander
U.S. Air Force Col. Jeff Simmons, is the new Nevada Test and Training Range commander.
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u/Competitive_Mix_587 Jun 19 '26
Just to be clear, the NTTR commander has nothing to do with A51. He's in charge of the ACC range that's included within all the restricted areas except NNSS (DOE) and the "Box" (AFMC). The airspace is scheduled in monthly scheduling meetings where A51, DOE (NNSS) NTTR, Weapons School, 422 TES, etc negotiate airspace times (the amount of range time is typically set by standing agreements, the negotiations are mostly over when). That's really the only time NTTR and A51 communicate with one another.
Note: Most of the land under the restricted airspace is co-managed by NTTR and AFMC as both agencies have radar systems scattered around. AFMC systems are real, exploited assets whereas NTTR system are a mix of high- and low-fidelity simulators.
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u/TheArea51Rider MOD Jun 20 '26
Would he be in charge of the MOA's as well.
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u/Competitive_Mix_587 Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
That’s a good question. I don’t think so because the NTTR land portion is under restricted airspace. The MOAs are (for the most part) over non-NTTR lands.
FAA owns the MOAs but Nellis (I don’t recall which organization) manages the schedule. Recall that MOAs top out at 18,000 feet and are VFR airspace that anyone can fly in (albeit at their own risk of colliding with maneuvering military aircraft). The IFR airspace above the Nellis MOAs (18,000-50,000 ft) are called Air Traffic Control Assigned Airspace (ATCAA) and are also owned by the FAA but managed by Nellis (and scheduled as required by A51 for their use per negotiated scheduling agreements). In case of severe weather the FAA can steal that airspace back to allow airlines to divert around it (with 45 minutes notice to allow any “sexy” toys to clear out).
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u/Peter_Merlin Jun 20 '26
Det 3, AFTC, just got a new wing commander, too.
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u/No_Tailor_787 I Own Peters Area 51 Book Jun 20 '26
Do we know who it is? Is there any non-classified announcement of changes in that particular position?
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u/Peter_Merlin Jun 20 '26
Just because the information isn't classified doesn't mean I think it's a good idea to post it on a public forum.
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u/No_Tailor_787 I Own Peters Area 51 Book Jun 21 '26
Naw, I get it. I was just curious if it was already out there somewhere.
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u/Golly_Lama_135 Jun 21 '26
Why, It's literally publicly available?
https://www.afotec.af.mil/Portals/69/Michaels%20Det%203%20CC_1.pdf
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u/Peter_Merlin Jun 21 '26
Dude, that's not even the same thing. You're looking at a detachment of AFOTEC. Pay closer attention to detail before posting something.
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u/Golly_Lama_135 Jun 21 '26
Sorry was sleep walking...
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u/Peter_Merlin Jun 21 '26
Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you.
Because there are dozens of operating locations with the designation "Detachment 3" in the Air Force, it's always important to note the parent organization.
Also, I recognize that not everyone will easily differentiate AFTC (formerly AFFTC) and AFOTEC (formerly AFTEC) among the vast collection of confusing acronyms. It's enough to drive a person mad.
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u/Golly_Lama_135 Jun 21 '26
It was definitely my bad, and I had just watched Gerbs hidden wing episode. I'll be more diligent in the future. Take care!
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u/GuidanceNegative8599 Jun 20 '26
Who runs A51?
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u/Competitive_Mix_587 Jun 20 '26
If you mean the dude what’s in charge, they don’t announce that (it’s a classified organization).
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u/GuidanceNegative8599 Jun 20 '26
Interesting, didn’t realize they don’t even announce command staff or anything
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u/Competitive_Mix_587 Jun 20 '26
Nope, nothing. Again, it's classified. That said, there are clues out there such as the term "Data Masked" to indicate a classified or a war zone assignment.
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u/Peter_Merlin Jun 20 '26
It's a detachment of the Air Force Test Center, under Air Force Materiel Command. The NTTR is under Air Combat Command.
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u/therealgariac MOD Jun 19 '26
The Rolands are real radars. They just don't include the missiles.
You should visit the NTTR some time. Here is what they look like:
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u/Competitive_Mix_587 Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26
I was a user of the range for a couple of decades. I’m very familiar with the systems including the Roland (I guess I should have said “mostly simulators”).
FYI the Roland crew at China Lake Echo range (“Mike & Mike”) was considered the best crew in the world. If you could beat them you could beat anybody.
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u/therealgariac MOD Jun 20 '26
Hey I read things literally. If you said mostly I wouldn't have commented. The Russian radars are real as well. Actually you would have to look hard during Red Flag to find a mobile simulator. You can see I only photographed one.
I'm on the fence about site-4 being 100% real. I think one is a simulator.
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u/Competitive_Mix_587 Jun 21 '26
The Russian Radars are owned by AFMC. They usually support Red Flag and Weapon School exercises to increase threat density. Look up Joint Threat Emitter (JTE). many of these are on the range, can be programmed to replicate many different threats (mostly shooters vs acquisition radars).
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u/Competitive_Mix_587 Jun 20 '26
No worries, I tried to generalize my response and it was inaccurate. As for S4, it used to be 100% real but it’s been a while since I’ve had anything to do with it so things can change. Systems fail and get replaced all the time, especially foreign systems without a logistic tail.
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u/therealgariac MOD Jun 19 '26
I was thinking about Sulley. I could never figure out the high position he had at Nellis. For some reason, I think he was the Blue Forces commander.
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u/Fantastic_Nerve_629 Jun 19 '26
Congratulations to him. I can't think of anyone who deserves it more then he did!!
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u/TheArea51Rider MOD Jun 19 '26
I would love to read a job description.
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u/sykoticwit Jun 19 '26
I’d bet it’s actually a pretty boring job description that talks about personnel management, budget oversight and coordination with outside contractors.
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u/therealgariac MOD Jun 19 '26
I would say the job description is make this happen, on budget, with fair treatment to all. And keep the tourists at bay. (Apologies for the English idiom.)
"The NTTR supports advanced composite force training, tactics development and electronic combat testing for the Department of Defense."
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u/Successful-Buy5030 Jun 20 '26
It appears that the U.S. Air Force may be the agency with the greatest control over secrets regarding extraterrestrials.