Of the twelve F-15E Strike Eagles that the 336th FS deployed to Kadena Air Base, six were sent to NSF Diego Garcia for three months in response to tensions in the Middle East.
The U.S. Air Force’s 336th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron concluded a six-month deployment with 12 F-15E Strike Eagles at Kadena Air Base, Japan, the service announced on Nov. 18, 2025. During that time, the unit conducted a three-month “first ever” fighter deployment at the Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
The deployment lasted from May to the end of July, with the fighters returning to Kadena in early August. Although the deployment to Diego Garcia was already known, the Air Force has now released new details.
The service’s press release said: “While stationed at Kadena, the 336th EFS deployed a detachment to the remote Indian Ocean outpost to establish and operate Detachment 336 – marking the first sustained U.S. fighter presence on the island and a major milestone in the execution of Agile Combat Employment in the Indo-Pacific.”
Images released on the DVIDS network showed at least three of the six Strike Eagles assigned to the TDY (Temporary Duty) at Diego Garcia, carrying a pure air-to-air loadout. This included four live AIM-9X Sidewinders short-range AAMs, two AIM-120 AMRAAMs (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missiles), in addition to the standard two external fuel tanks, the Sniper targeting pod and the LANTIRN navigation pod. The images were taken on Jun. 1, while the F-15Es were at Diego Garcia, and on Aug. 4, when they returned to Kadena.
Interestingly, an F-15E from the 336th EFS also sustained a minor accident while returning to Kadena on Aug. 4, conducting an emergency landing at the base after it was discovered a main landing gear wheel was missing. While the aircraft landed safely with no crew being injured, Kadena’s 18th Wing said in a statement that “the wheel was found to be missing in flight and was recovered on the flightline at U.S. Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia.”
Satellite imagery captured by @MT_Anderson on Monday of Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, roughly 2,000 miles from Iran, showed 4 B-52H Long-Range Strategic Bombers as well as at least 6 F-15E Strike Eagles, 6 KC-135 Aerial-Refueling Tankers and a C-5M… pic.twitter.com/WjFebzhKWz
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 11, 2025
Coincided with strikes against Houthis, Iran
The timeframe of that tour of duty came just two months after B-2s amassed at Diego Garcia late in March to finally strike the Houthis in Yemen, something the bombers had also done for the first time on Oct. 17, 2024. Notably, the deployment aligns with the clash with Iran when the service in the intervening night of Jun. 21 and 22 conducted Operation Midnight Hammer against nuclear facilties in Fordow, Isfahan and Natanz with seven B-2 Spirits out of Missouri AFB, Louisiana.
It is not known if the F-15Es supported that strike package, since F-15Es, F-16s, F-22 Raptors and F-35As would have been deployed to the CENTCOM (Central Command) AOR (Area of Responsibility) for that role. The deployment to Diego Garcia nevertheless represented the first time a frontline multirole fighter was deployed to the island in the Indian Ocean, which has also hosted B-1B Lancer bombers during operations in Afghanistan.
A satellite image on Jun. 12 also showed four B-52H Stratofortress at Diego Garcia and the six F-15E Strike Eagles of the 336th EFS , along with six KC-135 tankers and a C-5M heavy-lift aircraft.
Deployment to Diego Garcia
The deployment of the 336th EFS from Kadena to the remote yet highly strategic Diego Garcia island was in “response to an immediate request for forces from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command,” which eventually translated to 160 Airmen from Kadena, Yokota, and Andersen Air Force Bases deploying there on May 13 to establish Detachment 336.
One of the first tasks Det 336 undertook was the installation of a Mobile Aircraft Arresting System (MAAS). The MAAS was installed in case, for whatever reason, an F-15E had an emergency and would not be able to stop.
The mobile barrier consists of two mobile braking systems, one on each side of the runway, with a cable laid across the runway between them is used for any jet equipped with a tail hook. If a jet can’t stop normally on the runway, the tail hook would catch the cable and the MAAS’ braking system would engage to slow down and stop the airplane, similarly to how planes land on aircraft carriers.
Det 336 “executed daily sorties, maintaining high mission-capable rates despite supply chains stretching halfway around the world.” For “tactical command of joint defense forces,” Det 336 collaborated with the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet, Marine Forces Pacific, and the 609th and 613th Air Operations Centers. “Together, they executed air defense drills, base security scenarios, and alert responses, establishing a fully integrated, layered defensive posture,” the press release said.
Det 336 Airmen also worked with Andersen AFB’s Det 1’s 36th Mission Support Group to build and upgrade their “tent city,” nicknamed “Thundercove, transforming it into a resilient base of operations.” Airmen stood up power distribution, sanitation, morale spaces and maintenance and operational headquarters on-site, “enhancing sustainability and enabling high operational tempo.”
By the end of July, Det 336 had “exceeded all mission objectives, demonstrating that a forward-deployed fighter force can operate, thrive, and command from non-traditional bases, under exceptionally challenging logistical conditions.” The Strike Eagles successfully returning to Kadena bore the full scope of the accomplishment, which was not just a deployment, but a “blueprint for flexible, air power-centric combat operations in the Indo-Pacific,” the press release noted.
During the time at Diego Garcia, one of the F-15Es also conducted a “farewell fly-by” over the USS Ralph Johnson on Jul. 12, as it departed the NSF.
Airmen speak
Airmen touched upon the standards set by the logistical and physical infrastructure work demanded by the first-of-its-kind fighter deployment to Diego Garcia, which will benefit future assignments there. Master Sgt. Jeremy McCoy said the challenge was setting up the support mechanisms to meet the maintenance requirements at a base “without standard fighter infrastructure.”
This spurred real time collaboration with Navy and Marine partners “to develop joint solutions,” with each mission sharpening their “battle rhythm and readiness as a unified force,” said Capt. Brianna Kretkowski, 336th EFS, intelligence.
“Every workaround and upgrade was about building momentum,” said Tech. Sgt. Cid Bartolome, Det 336 civil engineer. “It was about making the location viable not just for this mission, but for future ones as well.”
