Captain John "Otter" Stratton is a young American fighter pilot who flies the F-15 Eagle, arguably the most potent and successful fighter plane ever built. He was eight years old when he decided to become a pilot. It wasn't a tough decision—his grandfather was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses and 11 air medals as a fighter pilot in the Second World War. As far as John was concerned, his grandfather had won the war all by himself in his beautiful blue Corsair. His grandfather was a hero and he intended to follow in his footsteps.

At Red Flag, the international training exercise for the air forces of allied countries, hundreds of pilots meet for the most challenging flying of their careers. Red Flag is the final tune-up training for pilots and their crews before being sent into actual combat. The object is to make the exercises as real and challenging as possible--to take the pilots, ground crews, mechanics, rescue personnel, etc., to the limits of what they can handle.

We follow our young pilot as he makes his way through this extraordinary event held in the desert of Nevada. He is amazed at how complex, confusing and dangerous the exercises are.

He also begins to notice team members who were absent from his childhood vision of heroism. He starts to think that being a hero is not quite as simple as he once believed. The extraordinary people he sees are not just the pilots, but a whole team supporting him from the ground and the air as well as the entire USAF Air and Space Force. Stratton learns that it isn’t about one person—it’s about a team committed to success every time.

Take a seat, grab the joystick, and hold on tight. Fighter Pilot—Operation Red Flag is an amazing large format tour de force about life as one of the world’s elite fliers and what it takes to keep them flying.