Photo By Senior Airman Zeeshan Naeem | U.S. Airmen perform pre-flight maintenance on an F-16 Fighting Falcon assigned to the...... read more read more
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TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Checkered Flag 26-1 concluded at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, on Nov. 6, 2025, after two weeks of advancing air superiority through joint readiness, coalition integration and shared commitment to delivering combat airpower anytime, anywhere.
Hosted by the 325th Fighter Wing, the two-week-long exercise ran simultaneously with the 53rd Weapons Evaluations Group’s Weapons System Evaluation Program - East 26.01, combining live-fire weapons employment with advanced air-to-air and air-to-ground integration. This collaboration provided aircrew and maintainers with realistic, high-end training essential to the Air Force’s ability to rapidly deploy in contested environments across the globe.
“We combine WSEP and Checkered Flag to give squadrons maximum operational time, allowing [pilots and maintainers] to train in both exercises,” said U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Grant Kirby, 83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron missile analyst. “It’s especially valuable for younger pilots and maintainers… it puts realistic stress on them which helps prepare them for the pressure and decision-making they’ll face in a real-world environment.”
The exercise brought together fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft -- including F-22 Raptors, F-35 Lightning IIs, F-16 Fighting Falcons and an E-7 Wedgetail -- for large-force employment missions across the Gulf Coast Range Complex. The complex includes an expansive 180,000-square-mile airspace that enhances interoperability, refines tactics, and strengthens combat readiness among U.S. and Allied forces.
“When you come overseas and operate in a large activity like this, it’s a great opportunity for us to integrate with our U.S. Air Force partners and really hone those interoperability skills,” said Royal Australian Air Force Squadron Leader Tim Main, No. 2 Squadron pilot. “It takes our mission crews out of their comfort zone, where they need to learn and understand different procedures, airspace and ways of operating, while working with assets we don’t often get the opportunity to train with back home.”
By merging advanced airframes, live-fire missions and multinational coordination, Checkered Flag 26-1 highlighted the teamwork, precision and innovation required to maintain air dominance.
“Checkered Flag is an excellent opportunity to practice integrating into a large-force exercise with multiple aircraft, command and control platforms, and air-to-air refueling tankers,” said U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Dan Jackson, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 311 pilot. “It’s been great exposure, thinking through all the complexities. This large-scale exercise helps us prepare for deployment because we’re operating in an unfamiliar area, which mirrors the conditions we’re likely to face in real-world operations.”
| Date Taken: | 11.14.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 11.14.2025 17:42 |
| Story ID: | 551155 |
| Location: | TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 18 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Checkered Flag 26-1 concludes strengthening joint, coalition readiness, by SrA Victoria Moehlman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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