Exercise Bamboo Eagle 26-1, the U.S. Air Force’s premier large-scale combat exercise, commenced this week totestthe very nervous system of joint and coalition airpower. The exercise is designed to stress the people, processes, and technology that link commanders to their forces, ensuring that thousands of service members can operate as a single, cohesive team while geographically dispersed and under threat.
Led by the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center, the exercise is not simply a test of tactical skill, but arigorous evaluation of operational-level decision-making. This challenge requires commanders to lead and synchronize a multi-domain fight across the vast distances of a simulated modern battlespace, focusing on the speed, resilience,...
02.17.2026 | JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, HAWAII, US |
Story by Debora Henley
