Photo By Micah Garbarino | Maj. Melissa Glindmeyer, commander of the 34th Fighter Generation Squadron, left,...... read more read more
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ANTA MARIA, Calif. – Hundreds of pilots, maintainers, and support personnel from the 388th Fighter Wing’s 34th Fighter Squadron and Fighter Generation Squadron are participating in two back-to-back large force exercises with the F-35A Lightning II.
Following Red Flag, which ran from July 22-Aug. 2 at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., the squadron forward deployed here this week as part of Bamboo Eagle, an Air Force Warfare Center exercise designed to create a ‘combat representative environment’ across large portions of the eastern Pacific Ocean.
While Red Flag is typically carried out by a large Air Expeditionary Wing, operating primarily from Nellis AFB, Nev., Bamboo Eagle stretches that command-and-control structure across several “hub and spoke” locations across the Western Unites States.
“We cultivate lethality, readiness and agility in our everyday training and local exercises. To meet the needs of our national defense strategy, we are building that warrior mindset – mission-ready Airmen required for agile combat operations,” said Col. Michael Gette, 388th Fighter Wing commander. “What Bamboo Eagle provides is a scope, scale and integration that we’re just not able to replicate here at Hill.”
Approximately 3,000 service members from four branches will operate more than 150 aircraft from nearly a dozen locations to create the separate force elements of Bamboo Eagle.
During the exercise, 34th FGS maintainers will live and work from a tent city under field conditions, communications will be degraded, and the ‘tyranny of distance’ will test aviators and their mission plans.
As the nation’s premier fifth-generation fighter, the F-35 provides, stealth, survivability, lethality, and a sensor suite that is unmatched in any other fighter. In the past, 388th Fighter Wing squadrons have been tasked with quarterbacking the fight, leading offensive and defensive counter air missions.
| Date Taken: | 08.06.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.06.2024 12:46 |
| Story ID: | 477907 |
| Location: | SANTA MARIA, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 121 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, From Red Flag to Bamboo Eagle, Hill Airmen building ‘warrior mindset’, by Micah Garbarino, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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