AFOSI drives joint and bilateral operations at Valiant Shield 2026

Air Force Office of Special Investigations teams supported Valiant Shield 2026 across the Pacific, delivering counterintelligence and force-protection to U.S., joint and allied forces as the large-scale exercise unfolded by land, air and sea.

The biennial U.S. Pacific Command field training event, held June 22 to July 1, brought together roughly 14,000 U.S. joint force service members, more than 200 aircraft and about 20 surface ships, with allied and partner participation from Japan, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

AFOSI personnel operated from Hawaii, Japan, Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, protecting personnel, information, operations and resources as allied and partner forces coordinated across a complex theater. “In the Pacific, no one operates alone,” said Col. James Merenda, commander of AFOSI Region 6. “This exercise reinforced why Reg. 6 has to be connected early with commanders, planners and partners so we can help protect the mission as it unfolds.”

In Japan, the 9th Field Investigations Squadron served as a central hub, deploying 18 specialized personnel to seven key locations. The team conducted 133 defensive activities, 48 bilateral liaison meetings and produced 17 intelligence reports in support of joint force requirements. The exercise also marked AFOSI-Japan’s first opportunity to support a Fifth Air Force-led field training event since the numbered Air Force separated from U.S. Forces Japan in March, according to Special Agent Kena Bostick, the 9 FIS commander. “Each exercise is an opportunity for AFOSI-Japan to assess its progress toward setting the theater and integrating with Japanese counterparts,” Bostick said, adding that meant more than observing from the sidelines. “Our teams were integrated into planning teams, command-and-control centers and field operations, and provided support as forces moved across established and temporary operating locations,” she said.

Planning began months before personnel arrived at exercise sites, said Special Agent Catherine Kiyota, AFOSI Region 6 strategic planning branch chief. Region 6 took part in initial, mid-planning and final planning conferences with Pacific Air Forces to map where troops would operate and where AFOSI support was needed, including positioning personnel at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, and in the Republic of Palau. “We understood where the Air Force layout would be for the exercise, and we essentially placed AFOSI everywhere those forces would be,” Kiyota said. “That gave us the ability to quickly get information back to planners and commanders.”

The scope of Valiant Shield 2026 added complexity, crossing multiple unit areas of responsibility and including locations where AFOSI has no permanent presence—requirements that drove additional logistics coordination, augmentee support and resourcing. Special Agent Rory Swafford, AFOSI Futures and Strategy division chief, said that planning linked field work to decisions by senior leaders. “We provided strategic direction and ensured AFOSI fit into the exercise in a real-world way,” Swafford said. “That meant helping identify priorities, understand commander interests and bring together information from the field.”

While 9 FIS translated plans into daily support in Japan, Kiyota worked from the main exercise control group in Hawaii, consolidating reports from across the region. “The exercise control group included representatives from each component,” Kiyota said. “Since [VS26] was led by the Pacific Fleet, I worked primarily with Navy intelligence and information operations counterparts to make sure AFOSI reporting was incorporated into the broader exercise picture.”

Much of the mission came down to work at the local level, from high-end maritime operations near Guam to bilateral air operations in Japan. At Kadena Air Base, Special Agent Antonio Webster, AFOSI counterintelligence branch chief for Detachment 624, said his day-to-day area of responsibility spans Okinawa, the Sakishima Islands and the Kyushu region—terrain that makes host-nation relationships essential. “Most of the locations we supported during [VS26] were places we had been before, with host-nation partners we had already worked with,” Webster said. “Daily operations included briefings with U.S. teams before they went out, along with bilateral meetings with Japanese law enforcement and military counterparts.”

That support tied directly to bilateral air operations, including KC-46 refueling, mass casualty aeromedical evacuation and rapid airfield damage recovery training. “Our Japanese partners are becoming more settled when it comes to bilateral operations at the tactical level,” Webster said. “That made it easier to share information and respond to reporting from teams on the ground.” He added that AFOSI special investigators and host-nation personnel are critical to bridging language, culture and liaison networks. “Our special investigators are a linchpin for us,” Webster said. “Without them, the mission would still get done, but it would happen at a much slower rate. They bring decades of experience and relationships with local Japanese partners, and that continuity is critical.”

On Guam, AFOSI personnel supported similar mission areas, and Special Agent Rudolph Bender, commander of AFOSI Detachment 602, embedded with a joint Threat Monitoring Cell for the first time, integrating Special Agents directly into that construct. According to Kiyota, the cell synchronized partner and joint capabilities to identify and mitigate real-world threats, giving commanders a more complete threat picture.

Swafford said the exercise showcased how AFOSI has progressed and integrated into large-scale operations. “AFOSI supports a lot of exercises, and we have been able to take lessons from previous events and apply them in a very tangible way here,” Swafford said. “During [VS26], I saw a clear improvement in deployment readiness, communication and integration.”

Webster pointed to Japanese partners taking greater ownership of mission planning and threat awareness. “Our Japanese partners used the reporting we helped provide and brought it down to the tactical level for flight planning and threat awareness,” he said.

Swafford said the event validated the relationships and systems AFOSI detachments have built with joint and host-nation partners from the ground up. Merenda said the groundwork underscored AFOSI’s place in joint operations. “VALIANT SHIELD 2026 showed AFOSI’s mission is not separate from operations, it is part of how the joint force shares information and builds trust with partners,” Merenda said. “In a theater as complex as the Pacific, those relationships and capabilities are essential to mission success.”