YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan -- U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to the 374th Airlift Wing, alongside 5th Air Force and its respective wings, successfully completed its first-ever iteration of exercise Beverly Midnight 2026 at Yokota Air Base, Japan, March 9-15.
The exercise is designed to test and enhance the wings' readiness for real-world contingencies. It provides an opportunity for units to synchronize logistics, demonstrate interoperability, and improve coordination between base organizations that support the Yokota mission.
For the first time, the 5th Air Expeditionary Task Force brought together and led the 374 AW, 18th Wing at Kadena AB and the 35th Fighter Wing at Misawa AB to synchronize and strengthen readiness capabilities by creating a single integrated training environment.
“This collaboration is important because we get a first-hand look at what Kadena, Misawa and the 5 AF value when it comes to desired learning objectives and how they mesh with what we prioritize at Yokota,” said Lt. Col Stephen Larson, 374th Airlift Wing inspector general. “Integrating these efforts at a large scale really helps us understand where we are reliant on each other and the impact of each individual Airman’s actions in these scenarios.”
Previously, all Japan wings have conducted annual training at separate times, such as
Beverly High at Kadena Air Base, Beverly Sunrise at Misawa Air Base, as well as previously
known Beverly Morning at Yokota Air Base.
Yokota Airmen were successful in deploying 118 personnel and 443.8 tons of cargo, as
well as completing 13 airdrops, 440 ground transportation runs and fueling 562,758 gallons for
modes of transport. In addition, 77 individual flight missions were accomplished, resulting in
194 hours of flight operations.
“Exercises like this one are critical to our readiness and logistics hub mission to
maneuver and sustain the force at the speed of need,” said Col. Richard McElhaney, 374 AW
commander. “We saw Airmen building understanding and confidence by collaborating with
teammates from across the installation, along with our 18 WG and 35 FW teammates, to increase
capability to support stability in the Indo-Pacific.”