The updated article said "The large aircraft went cross-country to Nevada for a training exercise involving HALO drop--high altitude military parachuting. The exercise was done in coordination with multiple air military installations and groups, including the 82nd Airborne."

So the large number of aircraft was needed for a large training exercise involving multiple bases and groups. It just said HALO was involved, not that the entire exercise was HALO -- and THAT assumes the reporting on the webpage is accurate. I don't think KDVR is MSNBC or CNN (with their deliberately false reporting) but my experience has been that reporters and copy editors frequently get details (sometimes even major points) wrong even when they have the best intentions.