TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla -- TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – More than 100 U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to the 23d Combat Air Base Squadron participated in Silver Flag, a specialized expeditionary combat support exercise hosted by the 801st Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE) Training Squadron at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, November 9 – 14, 2025.
The training equips 23d CABS Airmen with the hands-on skills required to build, operate, defend and sustain forward operating bases in contested environments. By integrating multiple career fields into one cohesive fighting team, Silver Flag allows the 23d CABS to strengthen its expeditionary readiness and test its ability to deploy and operate independently in austere locations.
“You get to see the power to bear from all the various civil engineering Air Force specialty codes and everything that they do from day-to-day to contingency operations,” said Lt. Col. Justin May, 23d CABS commander. “Everything they provide to an airbase, whether at home or deployed, it's been really eye-opening for me and a really great way to kick off our training spin up.”
At Tyndall AFB, the 23d CABS trained under the guidance of the 801st RED HORSE Training Squadron cadre — subject matter experts who specialize in building, repairing and sustaining deployed air bases. The 801st provides essential instruction in power generation, airfield damage repair, shelter construction and other critical expeditionary engineering skills.
“The cadre’s expertise while we’ve been here has been absolutely spot on,” said Chief Master Sgt. Patrick Meade, 23d CABS senior enlisted leader. “We’ve had a lot of opportunities to have classroom instruction as well as going out to the field to see what that looks like, and it’s been phenomenal. The instruction they’ve provided to our young Airmen and our older ones like myself has been, bar none, the best that I’ve seen.”
From their arrival late Sunday afternoon, the Airmen immediately hit the ground running. Within minutes of stepping off the bus, teams organized themselves, established accountability and began preparing for the week’s demanding schedule. What could have been a chaotic transition instead became a display of initiative and teamwork.
“I think the moment that stood out the most to me is when we got off the bus, each one of our functional communities took command and control,” Meade said. “Processing line, the beddown plan, 245s and locator cards — it was really awesome and amazing to see our Airmen leading the charge, taking control of the situation, and just doing what they needed to do as soon as we got boots on the ground.”
The week-long Silver Flag culminated in a field training exercise where Airmen operated under simulated combat conditions, testing their ability to sustain operations under pressure. Teams were challenged to put their skills to the test and think, adapt and execute in real time while wearing chemical protective gear, facing environmental and logistical stressors.
“There is no better training than when you are getting your hands dirty, and making things happen,” said May. “You can talk about it all you want in the classroom — all this conceptualization, thinking through problems — but until you get punched in the face, you don’t know how you’re going to react. That’s when you fall back on your training. So when we put them in these stressful situations where they are in (protective) gear, sweating it out, having a hard time talking, but still getting the mission done — there’s no substitute for that.”
The experience also served as preparation for the squadron’s next major test — Exercise Mosaic Tiger 26-1, a Moody AFB combat readiness exercise beginning immediately after Silver Flag. With each exercise, the 23d CABS Airmen continues to develop as a cohesive unit of experts capable of operating anywhere in the world.
“Every training iteration, we get sharper, we get better, we get stronger,” May said “We are learning things as we go, and we are making the mission happen, regardless of where we are, who we have, or what equipment’s available. It’s just been really, really awesome to watch.”