Deb Henley, 505th Command and Congrol Wing Public Affairs
The Virtual Flag: Coalition exercise, hosted annually by the 705th Combat Training Squadron, also known as the Distributed Mission Operations Center, at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, serves as a cornerstone of U.S. and allied forces' readiness, interoperability, and mission command capabilities. This high-stakes, multinational exercise integrates air, space, and cyber assets from multiple partner nations to simulate real-world combat scenarios, test tactics, techniques, and procedures, and strengthen global warfighting efforts.
Exercise Virtual Flag: Coalition is the U.S. Air Force's premier distributed battle management exercise, providing combat-representative, joint, and coalition synthetic training across all domains in support of the warfighter. VFC 26-1 integrated U.S. forces (U.S. Air Force, U.S. Space Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army, Utah Army National Guard, and U.S. Marines) with international partners (Royal Air Force, U.K. Space Command, Royal Australian Air Force, Australian Army, Royal Canadian Air Force, and Royal Canadian Navy) against a top pacing challenge in a high-end fight across warfighting domains, in an Indo-Pacific large-scale theater and spectrum of conflict. The exercise showcased the increasing importance of multinational cooperation in modern warfare, emphasizing both the challenges and opportunities of coalition operations.
“The U.S. Air Force has embraced mission command concepts like agile combat employment and decentralized execution because we have learned from experience that centralized C2 won’t work against a peer adversary,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. David Jones, 705th CTS/DMOC commander. “VFC offers a great training opportunity to refine operational concepts and tactics with Air Force, joint, and coalition partners so we’re ready to fight together if deterrence fails.”
Coalition and U.S. forces operated within the DMOC’s simultaneously live, virtual, and constructive environment, training against peer adversaries to improve integrated combat effectiveness from simulators or C2 nodes across the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K. Constructive scenarios introduced computer-generated threats, forces, and environmental factors, enhancing the exercise with complex, dynamic challenges that simulate real-world combat conditions at an unprecedented scale in the Indo-Pacific area of responsibility.
Royal Canadian Air Force BGen Leighton James, RCAF General Air and Space Readiness director, right, engages with Virtual Flag: Coalition briefer during distinguished visitor tour at the 705th Combat Training Squadron, also known as the Distributed Mission Operations Center, at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Oct. 29, 2025. Exercise VFC serves as a train as you fight exercise by integrating the full spectrum of air, land, surface, space, and cyber warfighters in a virtual battlespace in joint and coalition environments; forces from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada participated. (Screens were blurred for security reasons; image was cropped to focus on subject.) (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Alenne Mojica) 
U.S. Air Force Airmen participate in exercise Virtual Flag: Coalition 26-1 at the 705th Combat Training Squadron, also known as the Distributed Mission Operations Center, at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Oct. 29, 2025. Exercise VFC serves as a train as you fight exercise by integrating the full spectrum of air, land, surface, space, and cyber warfighters in a virtual battlespace in joint and coalition environments; forces from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada participated. (Screens and displays were blurred for security reasons; image was cropped to focus on subject.) (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Alenne Mojica) 
U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System operator from the 962nd Airborne Air Control Squadron, rt, and Royal Canadian Air Force member participate in Virtual Flag: Coalition 26-1 at the 705th Combat Training Squadron, also known as the Distributed Mission Operations Center, at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Oct. 29, 2025. Exercise VFC serves as a train as you fight exercise by integrating the full spectrum of air, land, surface, space, and cyber warfighters in a virtual battlespace in joint and coalition environments; forces from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada participated. (Image was cropped to focus on subject.) (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Alenne Mojica) Royal Canadian Air Force BGen Leighton James, RCAF General Air and Space Readiness director, right, engages with Virtual Flag: Coalition briefer during distinguished visitor tour at the 705th Combat Training Squadron, also known as the Distributed Mission Operations Center, at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Oct. 29, 2025. Exercise VFC serves as a train as you fight exercise by integrating the full spectrum of air, land, surface, space, and cyber warfighters in a virtual battlespace in joint and coalition environments; forces from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada participated. (Screens were blurred for security reasons; image was cropped to focus on subject.) (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Alenne Mojica) U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System operator from the 962nd Airborne Air Control Squadron, rt, and Royal Canadian Air Force member participate in Virtual Flag: Coalition 26-1 at the 705th Combat Training Squadron, also known as the Distributed Mission Operations Center, at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Oct. 29, 2025. Exercise VFC serves as a train as you fight exercise by integrating the full spectrum of air, land, surface, space, and cyber warfighters in a virtual battlespace in joint and coalition environments; forces from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada participated. (Image was cropped to focus on subject.) (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Alenne Mojica) 
Royal Canadian Air Force BGen Leighton James, RCAF General Air and Space Readiness director, center, listens during Virtual Flag: Coalition distinguished visitor briefing on the Joint Terminal Control Training Rehearsal System, a 270-degree dome simulator, which provides enhanced immersion for coalition and U.S. joint terminal attack controllers at the Distributed Mission Operations Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Oct. 29, 2025. Exercise VFC serves as a train as you fight exercise by integrating the full spectrum of air, land, surface, space, and cyber warfighters in a virtual battlespace in joint and coalition environments; forces from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada participate at KAFB and distributed locations across the globe. (Image was cropped to focus on subject.) (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Alenne Mojica) 
Canadian, Australian, U.K. and U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps warfighters participate in Virtual Flag: Coalition 26-1 at the 705th Combat Training Squadron, also known as the Distributed Mission Operations Center, at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Oct. 29, 2025. Exercise VFC serves as a train as you fight exercise by integrating the full spectrum of air, land, surface, space, and cyber warfighters in a virtual battlespace in joint and coalition environments. (Image was cropped to focus on subject.) (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Alenne Mojica) 
U.S. Air Force Airmen from the 705th Combat Training Squadron, also known as the Distributed Mission Operations Center, oversee the execution of the Virtual Flag: Coalition 26-1 at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Oct. 29, 2025. Exercise VFC serves as a train as you fight exercise by integrating the full spectrum of air, land, surface, space, and cyber warfighters in a virtual battlespace in joint and coalition environments; forces from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada participated. (Screens and displays were blurred for security reasons; image was cropped to focus on subject.) (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Alenne Mojica) 
Royal Australian Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force members participate in Virtual Flag: Coalition 26-1 at the 705th Combat Training Squadron, also known as the Distributed Mission Operations Center, at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Oct. 29, 2025. Exercise VFC serves as a train as you fight exercise by integrating the full spectrum of air, land, surface, space, and cyber warfighters in a virtual battlespace in joint and coalition environments; forces from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada participated. (Screens and displays were blurred for security reasons; image was cropped to focus on subject.) (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Alenne Mojica) 
U.S. Marine Corps active-duty and reserve warfighters from Marine Tactical Air Command Squadron 48, integrate ground forces with air and space operations during exercise Virtual Flag: Coalition 26-1 at the 705th Combat Training Squadron, also known as the Distributed Mission Operations Center, at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Oct. 29, 2025. Exercise VFC serves as a train as you fight exercise by integrating the full spectrum of air, land, surface, space, and cyber warfighters in a virtual battlespace in joint and coalition environments; forces from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada participated. (Image was cropped to focus on subject.) (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Alenne Mojica) 
U.S. Air Force Col. Justin Secrest, 377th Air Base Wing commander, listens during Virtual Flag: Coalition distinguished visitor briefing on the Joint Terminal Control Training Rehearsal System, a 270-degree dome simulator, which provides enhanced immersion for coalition and U.S. joint terminal attack controllers at the Distributed Mission Operations Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Oct. 29, 2025. Exercise VFC serves as a train as you fight exercise by integrating the full spectrum of air, land, surface, space, and cyber warfighters in a virtual battlespace in joint and coalition environments; forces from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada participated. (Image was cropped to focus on subject) (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Alenne Mojica) 
Royal Canadian Air Force BGen Leighton James, RCAF General Air and Space Readiness director, center, learns about the in-person and distributed MQ-9 participation in Virtual Flag: Coalition 26-1 during distinguished visitor tour at the 705th Combat Training Squadron, also known as the Distributed Mission Operations Center, at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, Oct. 29, 2025. Exercise VFC serves as a train as you fight exercise by integrating the full spectrum of air, land, surface, space, and cyber warfighters in a virtual battlespace in joint and coalition environments; forces from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada participated. (Security badges and screens were blurred for security reasons; image was cropped to focus on subject.) (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Alenne Mojica)