Naval Air Facility El Centro , California ( CNN ) -- Britain 's Prince Harry , the younger son of Prince Charles , has arrived at a U.S. military base in California for the final phase of helicopter gunship training , according to a United Kingdom Ministry of Defense statement Friday . Capt . Harry Wales , as he 's known on the airfield , will begin live-fire training , which is combined with `` environmental and judgment training . '' The course will be split between Naval Air Facility El Centro and Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Air Field in Arizona . If he passes the two months of pilot training , Prince Harry will be one step closer to becoming combat ready and possibly returning to the front lines of Afghanistan , where the majority of pilots and crews successfully completing the Apache helicopter training are deployed , said British Army Lt. Col. Peter Bullen . His training space is a bit famous , too : The El Centro base , which is in California 's Imperial Valley about 110 miles east of San Diego and just minutes north of the Mexican border , is the winter home of the U.S. Navy 's Blue Angels . It is also where much of the film `` Top Gun '' with Tom Cruise was filmed , said U.S. Navy Capt . Devon Jones , commanding officer . The helicopter exercises will require the group of 20 British airmen to use all the lessons they have learned in the past 14 months of their training , Bullen said . If successful , the prince and his mates will be deemed `` limited combat ready '' and will have four to six months more of training in England before they are considered fully combat ready , depending on their squadron 's schedule , Bullen said . Prince Harry -- the younger son of Prince Charles , the heir to the British throne , and the late Princess Diana -- served on the front line in Afghanistan as a forward air controller and saw combat . But he was withdrawn in February 2008 after news of his deployment broke . His brother , Prince William , is also in the military , as an army officer . But as second in line for the throne , he is specifically barred from combat . According to the Telegraph in London , Prince Harry intends to return to Afghanistan next year after he completes his training . He has been told by flying instructors he has a `` natural flair '' for flying , the newspaper reported this summer . The British military , which has been training airmen at El Centro for the past 20 years , chose the American Southwest for the attack helicopter training because the mountainous desert and fine dust resemble conditions that U.S. and U.K. sorties now experience overseas . `` The environment here is certainly what you encounter in Afghanistan . You ca n't replicate that in England , '' Bullen said . The Exercise Crimson Eagle has been held several times at the El Centro base since 2006 , most recently from March to May this year , Bullen said . The tactical exercises will test the fighting awareness of the prince and his 19 classmates . The El Centro instruction will focus on aviation environmental training and crew judgment . The students will be tested on handling the aircraft in mountainous and desert conditions , including dust landings and desert landings by day and night . `` We 'll have guys on the ground acting as civilians or the enemy , and they 'll have to use their judgment , '' Bullen said . In the second month of training , the two-man helicopter crews will use live fire on the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range complex at the Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field in southern Arizona . They will deploy the Apache 's weapons system : missiles , rockets and cannon . `` We 'll have friendly troops that will indicate a target , and they will have to engage it , '' Bullen said . `` This is the first time they will fire armaments outside of simulators . `` The aircraft will be heavy and will have to be flown sympathetically , '' Bullen added about the British Apache MK 1 helicopter , which is a modified version of the American military 's Apache . Jones said that Prince Harry wo n't receive any special treatment on the base . `` We will treat him as we do all our visiting British personnel , '' he told reporters . Added Bullen about the prince : `` He is treated exactly the same as any other student on the course , and he would n't want to be treated any differently . '' Upon completion of Exercise Crimson Eagle , Prince Harry will return to Britain as a fully trained Apache pilot and will then be assigned to one of the Apache squadrons within 16 Air Assault Brigade , where he will gain more experience flying the attack helicopter and participate in exercises in the United Kingdom , the British military said . The British Apache force , which is operated by that country 's Army Air Corps , is based in Wattisham , Suffolk , in England , and has been active in Afghanistan the past five years , officials said . The force also provided support recently in Libya . Wattisham Airfield was used by the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II , officials said . CNN 's Phil Gast and David Ariosto contributed to this report .
Prince Harry trains at a US military base in Afghanistan . He will fire live missiles , rockets and bombs from Apache attack helicopters . His training will occur at US military bases in California and Arizona . The majority of British airmen who complete the training go to Afghanistan .