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Exercise Cope North opens with disaster drill

FORUM Staff

Cope North 2016 kicked off on February 10 with a table-top humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise aimed at enhancing command and control before shifting to a weeklong series of drills focused on large-force employment training, fighter-versus-fighter air combat tactics, and air-to-ground strike mission training.

Organizers said that this year’s large-scale air exercise would be the largest since it began as a quarterly bilateral exercise in 1978. More than 1,800 personnel and more than 100 aircraft from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea and the United States were expected to participate in the exercise scheduled to last through February 26.

“Exercise CN16 [Cope North 2016] is a long-standing exercise designed to enhance multilateral air operations between the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, Japan Air Self-Defense Force and Royal Australian Air Force,” according to U.S. Pacific Command Pacific Air Forces. “As part of CN16, additional participants from the Philippines Air Force, Republic of Korea Air Force and Royal New Zealand Air Force will participate in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief training.”

Singapore and Vietnam have previously attended as observers.

This year marks a first for Philippines participation. Philippines Air Force planners set up a base and medical center and conducted combat search and rescue drills as part of Cope North’s first week, Stars and Stripes newspaper reported.

Also for the first time, the U.S. Air Force 353rd Combat Training Squadron from Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska will conduct multilateral survival training.

“The annual exercise serves as a keystone event to promote stability and security throughout the Indo-Asia-Pacific region by enabling regional forces to hone vital readiness skills critical to maintaining regional stability,” according to U.S. Pacific Command Pacific Air Forces.

When it began in 1978, Cope North took place at Misawa Air Base in Japan. In 1999, it moved to Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, where it continues to take place today.

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