Nellis Air Force Base

The Nellis Air Force Base, also known as the Nellis homeland, is a location northeast of New Vegas in the Mojave Wasteland. After the Great War, the base became home to the Boomers, a group originally inhabiting Vault 34.

Background
Nellis served as the United States Air Force Warfare Center with the motto "Testing, Tactics, Training." During the Great War, Nellis was struck by several nuclear weapons, leaving the base highly radioactive. Over the following decades, wastelanders avoided Nellis by habit due to the radiation levels, leaving it empty and desolate.

For five decades the Boomers have made the base their home. Their Pip-Boy Geiger counters indicated that the base was still somewhat radioactive, but not dangerously so, as enough time had passed for many of the isotopes to have effectively degraded. They began using the base's remaining defensive structures and their own stockpile of heavy arms, retrieved from Area 2, to keep any strangers from setting foot anywhere nearby ever since.

The base is mostly self-sufficient, growing its own crops using water pumped from Lake Mead, with basic nourishment provided by grains and green vegetables, while protein is provided by soy and legumes. Maize is also used to produce fuel in its biodiesel refinery, while power is provided by the Nellis solar array and its generator. Boomers also receive a rudimentary education, covering farming and combat, and have access to the base's medical facilities.

Boomers use pre-War virtual reality (VR) pilot training stations to train themselves for the day when they will take to the skies, as their fascination with aerial combat grew during their time at the base. This dream stems from Loyal's finding of a file concerning the crashed B-29 bomber in Lake Mead, which the Boomers plan to recover and use.

Layout
Nellis is well-defended, along cracked and cratered road littered with signs warning that the area is forbidden. The front gate is guarded day and night by a howitzer team. When approaching from Fields' shack, the Courier may encounter George, who provides the Nellis artillery timing details note. The second approach can be accessed by an unmarked train tunnel (with two Very Hard locks) located east of Raul's shack.

Upon entering the base, the structures seen are the control tower and the hangars to the west. Two runways stretch parallel to the east, occupying the majority of the base's territory. The Boomers have made good use of the land between them, converting a parcel into an irrigated farm plot, and just north of the farm, is the Nellis array, which provides power for the entire facility via solar panels. Along the northeast corner of the fencing is a graveyard that cannot be looted.

One hangar houses the remaining parts of a B-29 bomber, while the other is used to house the virtual reality terminals, used to train pilots, and doubling as a Mess Hall and storage area. Quonset huts and shacks on the west side of the base provide living quarters, as well as medical and educational facilities. Pearl and Loyal have their own separate homes, while the rest of the Boomers make do with segregated barracks. The Nellis Boomer museum is also located among the eastern huts, with a nearby biodiesel storage hut near the crane and tracks.

Loot

 * Nellis Air Force Base snow globe - Inside of the Nellis Boomer museum.
 * Howitzer firing mechanism - In one of the gun cabinets inside of the Nellis workshop.
 * Duck and Cover! - Can be stolen from inside Pearl's barracks, among the books on the hanging bookshelf behind the sofa.
 * Dean's Electronics - Can be stolen from inside Loyal's house on the table.
 * A Fat Man and three mini nukes - Carried by a Boomer near one of three tents southeast of the Mess Hall and munitions storage hangar. Two mini nukes can be found on the bottom floor of the Nellis array on the shelves, while another mini nuke can be stolen from the Boomers' munition store, inside of a wooden box on the top shelf.
 * Thump-Thump - Can be found in the Nellis array generator building bottom floor next to a skeleton and to the left of the ant mound, along with 12 rounds of 40mm grenade ammo.
 * The base's biodiesel refinery has 102 maize inside - Located north-northeast of the Nellis Boomer museum.
 * Two Sunset Sarsaparilla star bottle caps - Found on a table in the Mess Hall among other bottle caps.
 * A key to a Very Hard locked gun case for the Vault 34 armory, used to open the pulse gun's gun case - Located in a filing cabinet within Pearl's barracks.
 * Rebreather - Made by Jack during Volare!.

Appearances
The Nellis Air Force Base appears

Behind the scenes

 * The Nellis Air Force Base is based on the real world location of Nellis Air Force base, located in northeast Las Vegas, Nevada.
 * According to Joshua Sawyer, the marksman and assault carbines are present "in part due to New Vegas' proximity to Nellis AFB."

Bugs

 * The guard that opens the gate may stand with his back turned and will not interact with the player character.
 * To work around this, the player character can first provoke the Boomers by shooting the pacing guard and try to lure the guard that normally triggers the Boomer dialogue near the gate. If done quickly enough, the player character may then put away their weapon and be forgiven by the Boomer guards, and afterward talk to the guard near the fence to trigger the dialogue and proceed normally.
 * This can be fixed by opening the console (~), selecting the gate by left-clicking it and typing unlock into the console. This will unlock the gate and allow the player character to walk in and initiate a conversation with the guard, then proceed normally from there.
 * The script for artillery shelling may become bugged. Shelling will begin without a warning sound shortly after passing George near Fields' shack, and aside from brief reloading periods, will not end even when reaching the gate guard at Nellis. Fast travelling to Nellis thereafter will always result in shelling.
 * At times, the guards at the front gate or in the guard towers will randomly attack, even at accepted status.
 * Sometimes, after completing most or all of the quests for the Boomers and then making a trip back to the base, a random infamy gain will be incurred with the Boomers.
 * By going near the base, discovering it, and leaving it without approaching the Boomer who was firing the missiles, Raquel will appear later at some point (usually after fast traveling) and ask the player character to meet Mother Pearl. They will then be forced to go back to the base with her to see Mother Pearl.
 * Female Boomers at Nellis may have facial hair.