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To hone in on Creech Air Force Base’s ability to practice Agile Combat Employment, the 432nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron dispatched a small team to the Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake in California to replicate a deployed contingency location alongside multiple MQ-9 Reapers.
After identifying how to minimize equipment and personnel footprints, the 432nd AMXS deployed on this exercise as a part of a larger joint exercise dubbed “Bamboo Eagle” to train on increasing dispersal capabilities that would complicate adversary targeting.
“We are going into this exercise with less equipment, less manning, and getting the same job done,” said Master Sgt. Britt Davis, 432nd AMXS production superintendent.
Upon arriving at China Lake, the AMXS team received and unloaded cargo in order to catch the MQ-9’s being flown into the simulated operating location. Once the aircraft landed, it was all hands on deck to get the jets airborne again.
“If an aircraft cannot return to where it took off from and diverts to a new location, we need to be able to send a small team out to perform maintenance and refuel it as quickly as possible to get it back up in the air,” Davis said.
Bamboo Eagle is a joint training opportunity where multiple agencies and services can integrate and refine readiness. The MQ-9 successfully integrates reconnaissance capabilities in combat scenarios while holding a unique role as an aircraft that carries munitions, allowing for various employment tactics.
“We are trying to cut down on the footprint we bring to these forward operating locations,” said Staff Sgt. Brian Anderson, 432nd AMXS MQ-9 aircraft craftsman. “In order to accomplish this, we reduced the amount of supplies and equipment brought with us down to the minimum required, so that we can test out our capabilities and what our Airmen can do.”
With the objective to employ personnel in response to observed or anticipated threats, Airmen must be prepared to face the challenges forward operating locations may present.
“This is a really good training tool,” Anderson said. “It teaches our team to be much more self-sufficient and a lot more responsible. When we deploy we may face challenges like language barriers, lack of equipment, or power issues, but if we solidify a course of action and train on it, we will be much more prepared to face whatever comes our way.”
The exercise also allowed a unique opportunity for the Airmen to form a cross-functional team, performing roles outside of their specialty code to accomplish mission objectives.
“These training scenarios are providing the chance for career fields like avionic specialists to begin learning crew chief jobs and vice-versa,” said Davis. “This can cut down on the amount of manning needed to be sent on future operations and falls in direct line with the ACE concepts being executed.”
With the Air Force’s refocus on expeditionary skills, Airmen are charged with obtaining the foundational skills necessary to operate in contested and operationally-limited environments.
“A lot of these smaller missions are just pieces of the bigger picture,” Davis said. “Having all of our members finish their job tasks qualifications, upgrade their skill levels and learn the equipment sets us up to execute those future real-world scenarios effectively and efficiently.”
| Date Taken: | 02.12.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.12.2025 12:23 |
| Story ID: | 490639 |
| Location: | CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, NEVADA, US |
| Web Views: | 16 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Refining ACE concepts; 432d AMXS conducts Bamboo Eagle training exercise, by SSgt Jake Jacobsen, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
