ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam —
The Pacific Air Forces’ largest, multinational exercise Cope North recently kicked off in the Northern Mariana Islands for its most robust iteration to date.
Originally held in Okinawa, Japan, and moving to Guam in 1978, Cope North 24 has etched a new chapter into the long history of this exercise by adding new training situations, operations and combined capabilities to Tinian International Airport and the Northfield.
At the Tinian International Airport, U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 Hornets conducted Agile Combat Employment operations, practicing combat air forces dispersal activities with U.S., Royal Australian Air Force, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, Royal Canadian Air Force, Republic of Korea Air Force and French Air and Space Force.
“We are here on Tinian because it provides a remote environment for us to train,” said Capt. Bryan Griswold, 36th Contingency Response Squadron camp commander. “By coming out here, we’re able to practice agile combat employment, to include everything we need to survive and operate geographically separated from our home unit.”
This is done to further prepare multinational service members for potential challenges they could face. Training scenarios included a mass casualty event, requiring military members to operate during times of extreme crisis in a cohesive, integrated front.
“One way we become fully operationally capable is by rehearsing extreme scenarios such as aircraft crashes,” said Royal Australian Air Force Warrant Officer David England, No. 383 Contingency Response Squadron unit safety advisor. “We know that we all have different terminology and procedures when it comes to these scenarios but through our combined training we are making it so those differences are smoothed out for a potential real world scenario.”
Cope North is a proving ground for multinational partners. Each iteration strives to strengthen Alliances and partnerships and the warfighting advantage between the six nations.
“We really get to work on our team building and understanding of cultural differences,” Griswold said. “Each time we do this, it provides us with insight on how we can improve our processes. Making us effective partners going forward.”
View the article from Anderson Air Force Base: https://www.andersen.af.mil/News/Features/Article/3676322/usaf-and-allies-conduct-cope-north-24-training-in-tinian/
