Valiant Shield is a biennial event, and, for the first time in its history, multinational. The joint field training exercise (FTX) focused on integration between U.S. and allied forces. This FTX enables real-world proficiency in sustaining joint forces through detecting, locating, tracking and engaging adversaries at sea, in the air, in space, on land and in cyberspace in response to a range of missions.
Participants include allied forces and observers, as well as the U.S. Navy, Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Space Force. This is the 10th Valiant Shield exercise in the series, which began in 2006.
"Valiant Shield is an opportunity for the crew of USS Ronald Reagan to demonstrate their warfighting capabilities at scale," said Capt. Daryle Cardone, commanding officer of Ronald Reagan. "Operating as part of a combined joint force, a team of teams, we value opportunities like this to exercise our ability to our best where it matters most."
Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) of Carrier Strike Group 5 (CSG-5) joined with surface vessels and aircraft from U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s (INDOPACOM) joint forces and Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) to conduct a formation sailing and fly-over event.
Ronald Reagan maneuvered alongside U.S. 7th Fleet flagship, USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19), surface ships and submarines from the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), and additional U.S. Navy surface ships. Meanwhile, aircraft from the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, U.S. Air Force and embarked Carrier Air Wing 5 (CVW 5) flew in formation overhead.
In addition to the Ronald Reagan, Carrier Strike Group 5 consists of the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Robert Smalls and the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Higgins (DDG 76) and USS Rafael Peralta (DDG 115).
Joining Carrier Strike Group 5 at the onset of Valiant Shield are the first-in-class JMSDF helicopter destroyer JS Izumo (DDH 183), the Maya-class guided-missile destroyer JS Haguro (DDG 180) and the Taigei-class submarine JS Jingei (SS 515).
