Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. (March 1, 2024): In this photo by Technical Sergeant Curt Beach, First Lieutenant Jake Heydinger, a pilot with the 525th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron, prepares for flight during exercise Bamboo Eagle 24-1. The exercise involved approximately 3,000 service members across the four military branches flying and maintaining more than 150 aircraft from twenty-four units from across the nation. Conducted by the Air Force Warfare Center, Bamboo uses the lands and airspace of the Nevada Test and Training Range, the largest facility in the country which occupies about three million acres.

Here the Center offers advanced pilot training, develops new tactics, and integrates many of the Air Force's test and evaluation requirements. Founded in 1966, the Center teaches the concept of Agile Combat Employment (ACE), a warfighting strategy developed to compete in today’s three-dimensional combat environment. ACE relies less on traditional large overseas bases that serve as hubs for combat deployments in favor of smaller, more dispersed forward operating bases.

The shift in policy is due to the advances in reconnaissance and missile technologies that now present risks to bases that were traditionally considered “sanctuaries.” This year, the event included maritime warfare including anti-ship technology and cyber operations.

The 525th Fighter Squadron, based at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, Alaska, flies the Lockheed Martin F-22A Raptor to conduct precision strikes of surface targets using a wide variety of conventional air-to-surface munitions.