The Department of Defence proposed the Bradshaw Field Training Area in October 1996, identifying the former cattle station as ideal for army manoeuvres and live-fire exercises. The scale of the terrain — savanna woodland, rocky ranges, riverine corridors — made it suited to large force exercises that were impossible to conduct near populated areas. An environmental impact assessment was completed and the report published in July 1998. In 2024, the facility received major upgrades under the National Defence Strategy: a new medical facility, a 250-person capacity training camp, urban operations training structures, accommodation camps, and significant road infrastructure improvements. Among the most visible upgrades was the paving of Nackeroo Airfield, allowing C-17A Globemaster transport aircraft and V-22 Ospreys to operate from within the training area.

Nackeroo Airfield, built within BFTA during Exercise Talisman Sabre in 2007, is named after the 2/1st North Australia Observer Unit of World War II — the bush scouts who patrolled the Northern Territory coastline against Japanese incursion and were nicknamed the Nackeroos. The airfield was constructed by 215 Australian and American engineers in just 16 days, a feat that demonstrated rapid-construction airfield capability to both defence forces. In August 2021, Marine Rotational Force-Darwin conducted a HIMARS Rapid Infiltration exercise at the airfield, landing a C-17 as part of Exercise Loobye. By 2024, after a $21 million concrete upgrade, Nackeroo became a permanent fixture in the regional security architecture.

Since the establishment of Marine Rotational Force-Darwin — a rotating deployment of US Marines based in Darwin — Bradshaw has become the primary field training location for joint Australian-American exercises. The Marines conduct live-fire training, helicopter operations, vehicle manoeuvres, and combined arms exercises across the BFTA's vast terrain. For Timber Creek, the nearest settlement, the military presence means an influx of personnel who need fuel, accommodation, and food. New local businesses have sprung up to meet that demand, providing employment that the remote community might otherwise lack. The relationship between the largest military power in the world and a small outback town is measured in diesel sales and motel bookings as much as in strategic doctrine.

When Defence first arrived at Bradshaw, the Ngaliwurru, Jaminjung, and Nungali traditional owners were wary. Uniformed personnel, they reasoned, might disregard sacred sites and disrupt country that held deep cultural significance. The Australian Defence Force worked through the Bradshaw Liaison Committee, and an Indigenous Land Use Agreement was negotiated that mapped and protected sites of cultural significance. Over time, something unexpected developed. From around 2003, traditional owners began including soldiers and US Marines in cultural activities. Some became friends. The ILUA includes funding for local children to attend boarding school and adults to access university. In September 2021, during Exercise Koolendong, Timber Creek residents were invited to tour the base — and the Aboriginal-owned Bradshaw and Timber Creek Contracting and Resource Company was engaged to provide employment to 18 of its staff. On this particular piece of Australian earth, the military and the custodians of Country are still learning what it means to share the same ground.