Nellis-based Aggressor units and the 57th Operations Group intelligence flight comprised the Red Force ensemble for Bamboo Eagle 24-3 from Aug. 2-9.
As Red Force, the 57th Information Aggressor Squadron, 507th Air Defense Aggressor Squadron, 64th, 65th and 706th Aggressor Squadrons provide realistic, threat-representative, near-peer air combat adversaries for high-end U.S. and coalition training
"Bamboo Eagle 24-3 requires a dedicated Aggressor Nation team from all domains and aggressor units at Nellis to ensure the exercise participants face in both live fly and virtually, the most advanced and integrated adversary they have ever trained against," said Lt. Col. Brandon Nauta, the 65th Aggressor Squadron commander. "During execution, the aggressor units execute what they have been planning the past 6 months and put the participants to the test."
Lt. Col. Donald Davenport, the 64th Aggressor Squadron commander, added that in this exercise Red Force provides Blue Force the opportunity to train against a realistic threat that is designing the scenarios to work to their advantage.
"We can formulate scenarios to make it work on our terms which is what a real threat will do," said Davenport. "An opportunity that has never been done before."
Bamboo Eagle provides Airmen, allies and partners a versatile, realistic training environment for testing tactics, developing strategies and conducting advanced training to support U.S. national interests.
"One aspect of this exercise is that we don't fight alone," Nauta said. "Bamboo Eagle provides an environment that we can jointly train together, both on the Blue and Red sides, and better understand how each of us operate so we are better prepared to fight together if called upon."
Bamboo Eagle 24-3 includes scenarios that stress an air expeditionary wing's ability to generate combat air power. These challenges range from arming aircraft, to keeping Airmen and assets safe from simulated missile strikes, to supplying subordinate units with the necessary equipment to sustain operations.
"Bamboo Eagle provides the logistical problem that we cannot provide when training in the Nevada Test and Training Range, the tyranny of distance," Davenport said.
Nauta added that instead of every participant planning missions, taking off, and debriefing from a single location, Bamboo Eagle forces participants to coordinate those efforts from multiple locations.
Capt. Andrew See, a 706th Aggressor Squadron F-16 pilot, who has flown several missions both during the day and at night for Bamboo Eagle 24-3, highlighted how placing the fight geographically separate from everyone's homebase effectively simulates an austere environment.
"It is more situationally realistic because of the timing and ranges involved and the added complexity of being positionally separated from homebase as compared to Red Flag where those situations are mostly simulated," See said. "In Bamboo Eagle you're much farther from home."
In line with the Department of the Air Force's reoptimization efforts for Great Power Competition and as the Department of Defense's only F-35A aggressor squadron, the 65th Aggressor Squadron represents the most capable and technologically advanced professional adversary replication unit specifically designed to train the warfighter against current and future near-peer threats.
"A fifth-generation platform for the 65th Aggressors allows us to leverage exquisite capabilities to provide training for Bamboo Eagle participants against current near-peer and future threat capabilities that is not often replicated at home station training," Nauta said. "There is a shock factor initially, but as the days and weeks go on with this training, it is encouraging to see how the participants think creatively allowing them to adapt for mission success."
Modern warfare encompasses multiple domains, complex high-end conflict and requires improved joint interoperability, faster data sharing and unified command and control across all warfighting domains.
"Bamboo Eagle 24-3 represents the most realistic live fly and virtual operational and tactical level training that a combat Airman, Guardian, Sailor, or Marine will face in training," Nauta said. "So the saying goes, 'As iron sharpens iron', the Bamboo Eagle 24-3 participants will come out of this exercise ready to face any challenge."
