In the northeast corner of the greater Las Vegas valley lies Nellis Air Force Base, home of the Air Force Thunderbirds Demonstration Squadron.  Nellis covers 5,000 square miles spanning across North Las Vegas Blvd.

Originally named McCarran Army Airfield, purchased and leased to the Army back in 1941.  Later renamed Las Vegas Army Airfield in 1948 it became a sub-installation of Williams AFB.  It was finally renamed once again to Nellis AFB in 1950, named in honor of Lieutenant William Nellis, from Searchlight, NV.  LT Nellis survived being shot twice over the course of 69 missions during WWII and died during the Battle of the Bulge.

Nellis AFB is home to over 9,500 service members of all five branches.  Some of the units assigned to Nellis are; USAF Fighter Weapons School, Tactical Air Command, 99th Air Base Wing, 57th Wing, Nevada Test and Training Range, 53rd Test and Evaluation Group, 505th Combat Training Group, 926th Wing & 820th RED Horse Squadron. Nellis also supports operations at the nearby Creech Air Force Base home of the Joint Unmanned Aircraft Systems of Excellence, the 625 square miles Tonopah Test Range and the Nevada National Security Site.