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Capt. Cody Donahue, 344th Air Refueling Squadron instructor pilot, pulls up to a boom pod to be refueled as one of three KC-46 Pegasus tankers sent to support exercise Bamboo Eagle 24-3 on Aug. 2, 2024, over the coast of California. The 344th ARS provides critical inflight refueling capabilities with the Air Force’s newest tanker, testing its ability to deploy rapidly and maneuver the Joint Force at time, scale and mass. Bamboo Eagle is a coastal exercise that tests the integration of mobility, combat, bomber, joint and Allied aircraft, which is key to joint force and international partner success. This iteration’s BE 24-3 is an example of how the Air Force implements large-scale exercises and mission-focused training encompassing multiple operational plans to demonstrate and rehearse for complex, large-scale military operations.