VANDENBERG SPACE FORCE BASE, Calif. –
Two Combined Space Operations Center members played key roles in Talisman Sabre 25, the largest U.S.-Australia exercise to date, held July 13-Aug. 4, 2025, across Australia and Papua New Guinea.
This eleventh iteration of the biennial joint combined training activity also brought together a total of 44,000 military personnel from 19 nations to train across all domains and test large-scale military operations - including combat-enabling space capabilities - in an area roughly the size of the space between Hawaii and Chicago.
U.S. Space Force Maj. Jesse Hale, deputy chief of the CSpOC Fires Division, and Australian Army Maj. Keiran “Willy” Shaw, Fires Division chief and CSpOC exchange officer, provided tactical space electromagnetic warfare expertise to the U.S. Space Forces – Indo-Pacific element. Hale worked directly as an SEW crew augmentee, while Shaw oversaw the SEW live-fire range as part of the exercise control group.
“TS 25 showcased the importance of regularly working alongside our allies and partners, in exercises and otherwise, raising our collective readiness to address contingencies in the most geographically diverse and consequential region on the planet,” Hale said.
Their guidance helped protect multi-domain communications, disrupted simulated adversary capabilities, and supported landmark achievements, including the first live firing of Australia’s M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System and a successful U.S. Navy land-to-sea SM-6 missile strike.
“The training activities were demanding,” Hale said. “But it was notably rewarding to mentor space operators and experience the real-time development of relationships and interoperability between the U.S. Space Force, other services, and allies.”
Hale and Shaw were also heavily involved in the planning of the exercise, a process that started in February 2024.
“[We] collaborated with SF-I counterparts to resolve documentation issues, which was critical to the initial TS 25 missions,” Hale said.
Shaw was also a lead planner and part of the site survey team, contributing real-world knowledge and experience into the exercise design to create the most realistic training environment possible for the tactical SEW crews.
In their regular duties with Space Delta 5’s Operations Directorate (S3), they provide command and control of SEW operations for U.S. Space Command missions.
U.S. Space Force Lt. Col. Ellie Constantine-Barredo, DEL 5 operations leader, detailed Hale and Shaw’s roles and responsibilities.
“The S3’s Fires Division produces regular radio frequency deconfliction assessments and tracks operational mission system capabilities related to U.S. Space Command space electro-magnetic warfare assets,” Constantine-Barredo said.
She also said that they keep track of all USSPACECOM SEW assets and coordinate necessary actions for the execution of SEW plans when DEL 15 is in their deployed configuration – Combat Delta 1-5.
“The Operations Directorate supports Combat Delta 1-5 and the CSpOC director in directing and controlling operations from planning to execution,” Constantine-Barredo said. “Both of these members delivered critical expertise [in support of TS 25].”
TS 25 allowed U.S. personnel to operate alongside long-standing allies and partner nations, strengthening relationships critical to regional stability. This year’s participants were Canada, Fiji, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, and the United Kingdom. Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam also attended as observers.
As both Hale and Shaw returned to the CSpOC, the skills tested and relationships established at TS 25 boosted their confidence in the combined space warfighting capabilities of the U.S. and its partners.
“It was encouraging to observe the space operators from both the U.S. and allied nations enthusiastic to cooperate and improve interoperability throughout the exercise,” Hale said.
TS 25 is part of a larger summer exercise effort that Department of the Air Force officials called the largest in a generation. The Indo-Pacific remains a region of strategic importance, identified as the primary focus in the latest U.S. National Defense Strategy.
“We stressed the system, and we know where we fell short, and we know the capabilities we need to go forward,” said then-Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin, in his final keynote address as Chief at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference in September. “We can’t have our Airmen [and Guardians] walking into a fight in the complexity we expect and have them untrained and learning on the fly.”
Lessons learned from TS 25 will inform future exercises and operations, ensuring the combined force remains ready to respond to contingencies and maintain allied resolve.