(AP) -- More than 200 airmen from South Carolina's Shaw Air Force Base are taking part in a joint Army-Air Force exercise this week in Louisiana.
Capt. Luke Bledsoe of Shaw's 79th Fighter Squadron says the simulations start Monday and will last for more than two weeks.
The exercise is taking place at Barksdale Air Force Base in northwestern Louisiana.
Bledsoe says the pilots from Shaw will fly their F-16 Fighting Falcons in simulations that mimic conventional wartime missions.
The pilots will have to react to simulated attacks from surface forces on the ground, as well as air-to-air threats from opposition aircraft.
Bledsoe says the pilots will also practice executing joint attacks with multiple aircraft against combat armies on the ground.
(Copyright ©2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)