The UK Ministry Of Defense (MOD) has a vision of providing Mission Training through Distributed Simulation (MTDS) for the air component of the joint battlespace. The MTDS Capability Concept Demonstrator (CCD) programme was funded to determine the key requirements for this system, which included understanding the range of training achievable. A demonstrator facility was developed including fast jet and Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) simulators, and an extensive exercise management capability (including virtual role players and Computer Generated Forces). A synthetic air battlespace (air, land and maritime) was created for the exercises and the MTDS CCD was connected to national and international facilities, all operating within a shared virtual world. Critical to the delivery of training was exercise management. As the programme matured and the training audience expanded to increasingly joint air-land-maritime coalition warfighters, the exercise management model used evolved. The core "White Force" (WF) team was led by an Exercise Director supported by Red and Blue Force leads, a Technical Liaison Officer (TLO) and an Exercise Management Officer (EMO) in an adapted command room. As necessary, ‘Role Specialists', such as intelligence officers, supported the training to provide expert input. White Force Liaison Officers (WFLO) were visible points of contact at distributed sites. Critical factors identified in the successful delivery of training were a dynamic and responsive environment with an intuitive chain of command. Decentralised execution was critical without compromise of the Exercise Director's ‘big picture'. Hence, a ‘centralised control, decentralised execution' model was the optimum solution. The key tenets of clear accountability, centralised planning, and a simple but modular command structure, can be adapted for use in future distributed training events and help inform a common approach.