Exercise Bamboo Eagle 26-1 tests Air Force readiness at MCAS Yuma Published Feb. 24, 2026 By Airman 1st Class Amanda Alvarez 325th Fighter Wing Public Affairs MARINE CORPS AIR STATION YUMA, Ariz. -- The 325th Fighter Wing operated as a spoke location during exercise Bamboo Eagle 26-1 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona, Feb. 17–21, 2026. Bamboo Eagle is a large-scale training event designed to prepare Airmen for combat against advanced threats. The exercise creates a realistic combat environment that tests distributed command and control and the ability to generate and sustain airpower from multiple locations across the western U.S. and Pacific while under simulated attack. “Bamboo Eagle really tests our ability, not only as an Air Force but as a joint force, to execute command and control across great distances,” said Lt. Col. Jacob Lowrie, 95th Fighter Squadron commander. “Unlike other exercises where everyone is in one location, here we’re separated by hundreds of miles and still expected to execute intricate tactics and achieve the same tactical objectives.” The exercise built upon training conducted during Red-Flag-Nellis 26-1 but added new layers of complexity. Instead of centralized mission planning and face-to-face coordination, units operated from hub-and-spoke locations, forcing Airmen to manage limited or degraded communications and make time-sensitive decisions with incomplete information. “We are in a contested environment from the moment the exercise starts,” Lowrie said. “When we take off, we don’t necessarily know that we’re going to be allowed to come back to the same location. Airmen at all levels have to make decisions without the amount of data they’re normally used to having.” This iteration included U.S. Air Force units alongside joint partners from the Navy, Marine Corps and coalition forces from the United Kingdom and Australia. Together, participants flew, maintained and supported operations across multiple domains, including maritime operations over the Pacific Ocean. At MCAS Yuma, operations ran around the clock. Aircrews launched primarily at night, while maintainers prepared aircraft during the day and recovered them after dark in limited lighting conditions, explained Master Sgt. Brian Morrissey, 95th Fighter Generation Squadron Tactical Aircraft Maintenance section chief. “These guys are launching aircraft using just flashlights and trusting their training to make sure everything’s done properly before sending that jet into the fight,” said Morrissey. Maintainers also faced simulated losses of equipment, communications outages and personnel casualties designed to replicate the pressures of combat. In some scenarios, manpower was significantly reduced, requiring the remaining Airmen to adapt without missing scheduled sorties. “One of the biggest things being tested is flexibility,” Morrissey said. “We’re moving aircraft and equipment around constantly, almost like a shell game, to make it harder to target us. If we lose a piece of equipment, our Airmen dive into the technical data and find approved, non-standard ways to keep the aircraft mission capable.” Operating from multiple locations added realism to the logistical challenges. Aircraft diverting to alternate bases required maintenance recovery teams to coordinate with unfamiliar units to troubleshoot and return jets to service. Communication networks were stressed as units requested parts, munitions and fuel across dispersed sites. “When we go downrange, you’re talking to different bases to get logistics like parts, munitions and fuel,” Morrissey said. “Having those relationships and practicing that here makes it more real.” For Lowrie, the most valuable outcome was not a single sortie or metric, but the decision-making experience gained by Airmen. “Each one of them is going to have to make decisions in combat without perfect information,” he said. “This gives them a chance to practice that now. That’s irreplaceable.” As operations concluded, the 325th FW departed MCAS Yuma after demonstrating their ability to fly, fix and sustain aircraft from a dispersed location, reinforcing the Air Force’s focus on readiness in an increasingly complex threat environment.