Airman gains joint operations experience during KEEN SWORD

Official Statements

• 188th Wing, November 11: “First Lt. Cody Blaylock, assigned to the 123rd Intelligence Squadron, had an opportunity to see joint military operations from a different perspective when he participated in Keen Sword 2026 as part of the Joint Air Component Coordination Element (JACCE).”

• 188th Wing, November 11: “Blaylock's role was to help connect Air Force and Navy operations by providing Col. George Wyse, the 7th Fleet JACCE director, with current information on Air Force activities. That information helped Wyse brief the commander of U.S. 7th Fleet on the air operations picture and address operational, intelligence and logistical questions between the services.”

• 188th Wing, November 11: “His daily responsibilities included attending video teleconferences covering Air Force operations, gathering relevant information and ensuring it reached the appropriate leaders. He also helped connect Navy and Air Force personnel when questions required coordination between the services. Participants in the JACCE are selected based on a combination of intelligence, logistics and aviation backgrounds, providing a broad knowledge base to support operational coordination and connect leaders with the right subject-matter experts.”

• 188th Wing, November 11: "Winning the fight in INDOPACOM demands real time ISR, it requires seeing and understanding the battlespace faster than our adversary,” said Lt. Col. Phillip Stevens, the 123rd Intelligence Squadron commander. “Additionally, Total Force Integration (TFI) is paramount, Ang ISR airmen must be ready, tested, and deployable to ensure seamless ISR fusion with our Joint and Coalition partners from the start."

• 188th Wing, November 11: “For Blaylock, one of the most valuable aspects of the exercise was the opportunity to observe senior military leadership firsthand. Daily coordination meetings with the commander of Pacific Air Forces and his staff gave him insight into how general officers communicate, assess information and make decisions in a wartime environment.”

• 188th Wing, November 11: “The opportunity to sit in meetings led by the Pacific Air Force (PACAF) four-star commander and participate in a specific JACCE sync with him and his team daily allowed me to listen and absorb the mindset and see how a general officer operates during a wartime environment,” said Blaylock. Adapting to an unfamiliar role while adjusting to the time difference presented challenges, but the experience gave him a new perspective on how the services coordinate operations and share information in a joint environment.”

• 188th Wing, November 11: “Keen Sword is a biennial field training exercise involving approximately 45,000 Japan Self-Defense Forces members, 11,000 U.S. service members and participating forces from seven other nations. The exercise focuses on improving interoperability, information sharing and defensive coordination through realistic training scenarios across multiple military domains.”