Exercise Valiant Shield

Exercise Valiant Shield is one of the largest United States military war games held in the Pacific Ocean. Nine Valiant Shield exercises were conducted between 2006 and 2022.¹ Latest exercise was conducted in the summer of 2026. According to the Navy, Valiant Shield focuses on cooperation between military branches and on the detection, tracking, and engagement of units at sea, in the air, and on land in response to a wide range of missions.²

Valiant Shield 2006 took place from 19 to 23 June. It involved 22,000 personnel, 280 aircraft, and 30 ships, including the supercarriers USS Kitty Hawk, USS Abraham Lincoln, and USS Ronald Reagan. It was the largest military exercise to be conducted by the United States in Pacific waters since the Vietnam War, and it was also the first time observers from the People's Republic of China were allowed to view U.S. wargames. The exercise marked the first of what will become biennial exercises involving different branches of the U.S. military.

Valiant Shield 2006 included Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard units. Air operations included thousands of sorties as well as in-air refuelings and parachute deployments. Aircraft from Valiant Shield deployed on missions ranging across the Pacific all the way to Alaska. Ships simulated anti-submarine warfare. Valiant Shield 2006 was the first time that three carrier strike groups had operated together in the Pacific in over ten years. Forces exercised a wide range of skills, including maritime interdiction; defense counter-air; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; and command and control.³

Observers from the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy were invited to attend, as were naval officers from India, Singapore, Japan, Australia, South Korea, Russia, Indonesia, and Malaysia. It was the first time observers from the People's Republic of China had ever been sent to observe U.S. war games.⁴ China sent a ten-person delegation, including one high-ranking officer each from its navy, army, and air force, as well as officials from its foreign ministry.⁵ According to USA Today, Chinese military observers said that observing the exercises gave them a better understanding of U.S. weapons and tactics. Rear Admiral Zhang Leiyu, leader of the delegation, called the visit to the war games near Guam "a positive step in China-U.S. military ties." Military ties between the United States and China have not been close ever since a communist government came to power in China. Admiral William J. Fallon, the top U.S. commander in the Pacific, said it was "a start" that China accepted his invitation to observe the large-scale exercises.⁶ Fallon indicated before the exercises began that he expected China to reciprocate. However, neither Zhang or the Xinhua report gave any indication that such an invitation was forthcoming.⁷ The exercise had implications for other world events as well, including acting as a show of force to possibly deter North Korea from test-firing its new Taepodong-2 missile.⁸

Additionally, observers from six other Pacific Rim countries attended the exercise.⁹

The following U.S. forces participated in Valiant Shield 2006:¹⁰

• Joint Task Force 519 staff, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
• Joint Task Force 519 Joint Force Air Component Command, Kenney Headquarters, Hickam AFB, Hawaii
• Joint Task Force 519 Joint Force Maritime Component Command, aboard USS Blue Ridge

• USS Kitty Hawk, (CV-63), United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan
• Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5), Naval Air Facility Atsugi, Japan
• USS Cowpens, (CG-63), Yokosuka, Japan
• USS John S. McCain, (DDG-56), Yokosuka, Japan
• USS Vandegrift, (FFG-48), Yokosuka, Japan
• USS Lassen, (DDG-82), Yokosuka, Japan
• USS Curtis Wilbur, (DDG-54), Yokosuka, Japan
• USS Fitzgerald, (DDG-62), Yokosuka, Japan

• USS Abraham Lincoln, (CVN-72), Naval Station Everett, Wash.
• Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2), Naval Air Station Lemoore, California
• USS Mobile Bay, (CG-53), Naval Station San Diego, Calif.
• USS Shoup, (DDG-86), Everett, Wash.
• USS Russell, (DDG-59) Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

• USS Ronald Reagan, (CVN-76), San Diego, Calif.
• Carrier Air Wing Fourteen (CVW-14), Lemoore, Calif.
• USS Decatur, (DDG-73), San Diego, Calif.
• USS Lake Champlain, (CG-57), San Diego, Calif.
• USS McCampbell, (DDG-85), San Diego, Calif.
• USNS Rainier, (T-AOE-7), Naval Base Bremerton, Washington

• USS Blue Ridge, (LCC-19), Yokosuka, Japan
• USS Houston, (SSN-713), Guam
• USS Honolulu, (SSN-718), Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
• USS Hampton, (SSN-767)
• USS Key West, (SSN-722)
• USS City of Corpus Christi, (SSN-705), Guam
• USS Tucson, (SSN-770), Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
• USS Frank Cable (AS-40), Apra Harbor, Guam
• USNS Impeccable, (T-AGS-23)
• RV Cory Chouest
• MV PFC James Anderson Jr., (T-AK-3002)
• MV MAJ Bernard F. Fisher, (T-AK-4396)
• USNS Watson, (T-AKR-310)
• SS Cape Jacob, (T-AK-5029)
• SS Petersburg, (T-AOT-9101)
• Helicopter Anti-Submarine Light 51 (HSL-51), SH-60 Detachments 1,2,3,4,6,11, Atsugi, Japan
• VP-9 (Patrol Squadron Nine), P-3C Detachment, Kaneohe, Hawaii
• Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron One, EP-3E Detachment, Misawa, Japan
• Strategic Communications Wing One, E-6 Mercury Detachment

• Pacific Air Operations Center, Hickam AFB, Hawaii
• 36th Wing, Andersen AFB, Guam

• 18th Wing, Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan (F-15C/KC-135/E-3)
• 35th Fighter Wing, Misawa AB, Japan (F-16CJ)

• 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman AFB, Missouri (B-2)

• 3rd Wing, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska (F-15E)

• 60th Air Mobility Wing, Travis AFB California (KC-10)
• 305th Air Mobility Wing, McGuire AFB New Jersey (KC-10)

• 107th Air Refueling Wing, Niagara Falls International Airport (KC-135)

• I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, California
• III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan

• USCGC Galveston Island (WPB-1349), Guam

While originally planned as a biennial exercise, an exercise was also held in 2007, from 7 to 14 August. Participation was similar in scale to the 2006 exercise. Aircraft carriers Kitty Hawk, John C. Stennis, and Nimitz took part.

In September 2010, Valiant Shield was conducted between Palau and Guam. Participating forces included carrier strike groups centered on Essex and George Washington.

Exercise Valiant Shield 2026 was held from June 22 to July 1 in the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, Japan and at sea around the Mariana Islands Range Complex.¹¹ During the exercise in Guam, the United States Marine Corps conducted operational evaluation of the Medium-Range Intercept Capability (MRIC) air defense system. The MRIC system combines US-developed command-and-control and radar components with trailer-mounted launchers employing Tamir interceptors derived from Israel’s Iron Dome system. According to United States Marine Corps reporting, the system is designed to provide ground-based defense against cruise missiles, drones, rockets, and artillery threats. The exercise involved joint and multinational training activities across Guam, Japan, Hawaii, and surrounding regions as part of broader efforts to enhance distributed air defense capabilities in the Western Pacific.¹²¹¹¹³ Also during the exercise, American and partner forces conducted a live-fire sinking exercise, striking the decommissioned USS Juneau off the coast of Guam.¹⁴