Massive Bamboo Eagle Exercise Returns, with Focus on C2 ‘Nervous System’

The Air Force kicked off one of its biggest exercises this week with the latest edition of Bamboo Eagle, featuring combined virtual and live training scenarios focused on test the command-and-control “nervous system” leaders need to operate on a complex joint battlefield spread over vast distances.

This iteration will have roughly 10,000 personnel—more than 9,000 service U.S. service members and about 1,000 other allied personnel, including from the United Kingdom and Australia, an Air Combat Command spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine. It will also feature roughly 150 aircraft including the F-22 Raptor, F-35 Lighting II, C-130J Super Hercules, and the MQ-9 Reaper.

The exercise will will feature leaders and units operating out of 15 locations across the globe, including Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; Kirkland Air Force Base, N.M.; and Hurlburt Field, Fla., the ACC spokesperson added.

The eight-day exercise is intended to strengthen the Air Force’s use of mission command, a philosophy that encourages lower-level commanders to make rapid decisions in the thick of battle when communication with higher-level commanders is not possible, according to a Feb. 17 Air Force announcement.

“In any conflict, the ability to make fast, effective decisions across vast distances is decisive,” Air Force Brig. Gen. David Epperson, commander of the Air Force Warfare Center—the command overseeing the exercise, said in a statement. “Bamboo Eagle doesn’t just train pilots; it pressures the entire command and control architecture—from the air operations center to the expeditionary wings. We are preparing our leaders to command the fight, not just participate in it.”

The first Bamboo Eagle in 2024 featured more than 3,000 U.S. and allied personnel and included training in the eastern Pacific sea and airspace to simulate a realistic operations environment.

The exercise, usually held twice a year, builds on the “tactical expertise exercised” in Red Flag, the Air Force’s realistic combat exercise at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., the ACC spokesperson said.

During Bamboo Eagle, commanders will use a massive live, virtual, and constructive, or LVC, environment to master the command-and-control challenges that come with coordinating and projecting airpower over great distances, the announcement states. Live combat aircraft will operate in designated airspaces while the LVC, managed by managed by the 505th and 705th Combat Training Squadrons, weaves them into a complex battlespace with thousands of virtual and constructive entities needed to create realistic battlefield conditions.

In this iteration of Bamboo Eagle, the 605th Test and Evaluation Squadron will evaluate the combat readiness of the command-and-control, or C2, “nervous system” that provides a common operating picture for the exercise, according to the statement. The squadron will use a “mission under test construct” to analyze the entire C2 system, looking at factors such as “the time it takes to execute a kill chain” to how well data links perform under pressure.

“A powerful nervous system is good; a battle-tested one is better,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Brad Short, 605th Test and Evaluation Squadron commander. “We act as the neurologists for the C2 community, using objective data to confirm the strength and speed of every system and connection. We don’t just look for what’s broken; we look for what can be made faster.”

The exercise will also include C2 experts from Royal Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force into key leadership and planning roles within the air operations center to help create a unified command mindset, according to United Kingdom Wing Commander Richard Kinniburgh, Bamboo Eagle 26-1 U.K. exercise architecture lead.

“When you have a team this unified, you’re not just sharing data; you’re building a single, resilient command and control nervous system. That is the level of interoperability required to win in a peer conflict,” Kinniburgh said.

The C2 structure will also be the “foundational enabler for agile combat employment, or ACE, allowing forces to generate combat power from dispersed locations while maneuvering under threat,” the announcement states.

“The technology that powers this exercise is incredible, but our true asymmetric advantage is trust, Air Force Col. Ryan Hayde, 505th Command and Control Wing commander, said in the statement. “It’s the trust between a commander and their Airmen at the edge, and the trust between our nation and our allies. Bamboo Eagle is the forge where that trust is built and tested. It strengthens the human connections that make the C2 nervous system work under pressure.”