JULY 23, 2026 – The 7th Munitions Squadron hosted service members from around the globe, including the U.S. Marine Corps and Royal Australian Air Force, for Exercise Death Strike: Trident Fury, a large-scale munitions production exercise held at Dyess Air Force Base, June 22–25.
Operating as an Air Force Global Strike Command capabilities exercise, Trident Fury was designed to evaluate combat production techniques, validate current operational plans and enhance interoperability through realistic, hands-on training.
The exercise kicked off with an initial air tasking order drop, requiring 7th MUNS personnel to immediately assess on-hand stock, conduct lot selection and break assets out to the production pads. From there, crews entered continuous, 24-hour operations, generating munitions and delivering them to the flightline for in-check and grading throughout the four-day event.
“This exercise tested our ability to take a massive ATO, break it down into a supportable plan and execute it under extreme pressure,” said Master Sgt. Chris Kirby, 7th MUNS munitions accountable systems officer. “With evaluators throwing unexpected daily FRAG [Fragmentary Order] changes at us, our Airmen had to rapidly pivot and adapt our production on the fly. It validated our ability to surge and sustain operations in a highly dynamic environment.”
In the Weapons Armament section, crews focused on a major training milestone — Multi-Role Pylon Loads. Using the launcher load frame inside the armament building, technicians executed a rapid magazine-reload type of operation. This process challenged the crews to securely load heavy weapons, such as conventional bombs and Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles, directly onto the racks within the facility, honing a critical backshop skillset.
Simultaneously, back in the munitions storage area, a major focus of Trident Fury was joint and international partnerships. Munitions production was split into specialized areas, facilitating both high-tech JASSM operations and conventional bomb builds, where Airmen from multiple Major Commands, the Guard and Reserves integrated with the U.S. Marine Corps and Royal Australian Air Force.
“Having our Marine Corps and Royal Australian Air Force counterparts here allowed us to show them exactly how AMMO does it, while also learning from their unique perspectives,” said Chief Master Sgt. Jason Buzzard, 7th MUNS senior enlisted leader. “These joint partnerships are absolutely vital. When we can seamlessly integrate our teams on the pad, it ensures we can deliver combat power together in any theater.”
The exercise culminated in the execution of Agile Combat Employment techniques on the production pads, testing the teams’ ability to build weapons under simulated austere conditions.
“We are executing an agile combat operations weapons preparation activity, which essentially means we are working with limited tooling, limited base resources and limited facilities to see how we can collaborate to prepare munitions,” said CPL Shannon Upton, RAAF, No. 6 Squadron armaments technician. “In the RAAF, we are jacks-of-all-trades — we handle everything from prepping the weapon to loading it and maintaining the aircraft systems. Integrating our procedures here with the Marines and the USAF has been a great opportunity to see how easily we can cross over our roles to achieve the mission in a realistic, high-tempo environment.”
This interoperability was prominently featured on the final day of the exercise when RAAF personnel took the lead on a major conventional bomb build, working shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. Airmen and Marines to direct the physical assembly of the weapons.
“I had the opportunity to lead a shift involving short-notice bomb builds alongside U.S. forces and seeing how well everyone integrated was incredible,” said RAAF CPL. Lachlan McFarlane, 77 Squadron noncommissioned officer supervisor. “It is vital we do this now for real-world operations. If a crisis arises, we need to hit the ground running on day one. Seeing us achieve our mission objectives together under a tight timeframe proves we can operate seamlessly in a joint environment.”
The successful execution of Death Strike: Trident Fury solidifies Dyess AFB’s ability to rapidly scale operations alongside international and sister-service partners. By integrating teams and pushing tactical boundaries, the 7th MUNS ensured that when the call comes, the joint force stands ready to deliver synchronized, decisive combat power anywhere on the globe.
By Airman 1st Class William Neal
7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs