NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — Air Force Major Scott Snider clambered into the cockpit of his F-15 jet recently for a mission he could hardly have imagined when he graduated from the Air Force Academy in 2002.

At supersonic speed, the 32-year-old Plymouth native climbed high over the Nevada desert on a mission for the fictitious enemy nation of Coyote. Often on such occasions, Snider’s comrades fire up the Russian national anthem beforehand as a rallying cry against the United States.