Estland — Airmen Participate in Unified Engagement 2010

TALLINN, Esto­nia, June 9, 2010 — U.S. Air Forces in Europe offi­cials joined rep­re­sen­ta­tives from sev­en oth­er coun­tries here to par­tic­i­pate in Uni­fied Engage­ment 2010, which start­ed June 7 and con­tin­ues through June 11.

F‑15E Strike Eagles sit on the ramp at the Tallinn air­port on June 7, 2010, fol­low­ing a com­bined exer­cise fea­tur­ing USAFE air­craft and Eston­ian joint ter­mi­nal attack con­trollers pri­or to the start of Uni­fied Engage­ment 2010 in Tallinn, Esto­nia. Pho­to cour­tesy of Eston­ian Defense Force Pub­lic Affairs Click to enlarge

The Uni­fied Engage­ment sem­i­nar is the fourth Build­ing Part­ner­ship Sem­i­nar USAFE offi­cials have con­duct­ed with Euro­pean part­ners as a trans­for­ma­tion war game to explore future com­bined warfight­ing con­cepts and capabilities. 

The U.S. del­e­ga­tion, led by Gen. Roger A. Brady, the USAFE com­man­der, is work­ing with coun­ter­parts from Den­mark, Esto­nia, Fin­land, Latvia, Lithua­nia, Poland and Swe­den to strength­en rela­tion­ships, and improve inter­op­er­abil­i­ty and future cooperation. 

“These meet­ings have been good for us and our allies and have proven pro­duc­tive and valu­able,” Brady said. “These ses­sions serve as effec­tive dis­cus­sions and are oppor­tu­ni­ties to share ideas, and for mil­i­tary pro­fes­sion­als, par­tic­u­lar­ly air forces, to share their perspectives.” 

Brady said the rela­tion­ships estab­lished and the work accom­plished at the sem­i­nar will allow every­one to come togeth­er quick­ly in cri­sis and effec­tive­ly face the challenge. 

“Because of train­ing sem­i­nars like Uni­fied Engage­ment, the U.S. Air Force and our part­ners world­wide are bet­ter pre­pared for future oper­a­tional chal­lenges,” the gen­er­al said. “Esto­nia is a great NATO part­ner and they are gra­cious­ly host­ing this meeting.” 

The sem­i­nar was an impor­tant oppor­tu­ni­ty to talk about oper­a­tional endeav­ors, mil­i­tary advice and skills, said Brig. Gen. Valeri Saar, the Eston­ian air force com­man­der, and the event co-host along with Maj. Gen. Jack Eggin­ton, the USAFE Direc­tor of Air and Space Operations. 

“The pur­pose of the meet­ing will address what role Estonia’s air force should have, how to keep secu­ri­ty in our region and how to be good neigh­bors,” Saar said. “We will also look at new issues such as cyber secu­ri­ty and ener­gy, and the threats to them.” 

An exam­ple of work­ing close­ly with allies for inter­op­er­abil­i­ty and future mis­sions is the train­ing between U.S. air­craft and Eston­ian joint ter­mi­nal attack controllers. 

“We brought in a cou­ple of F‑15E Strike Eagles from [Roy­al Air Force Lak­en­heath, Eng­land] to Esto­nia to train with Eston­ian JTACs who are on their way to Afghanistan,” Eggin­ton said. “They are train­ing and using the same pro­ce­dures as used in Afghanistan that will ulti­mate­ly pro­tect the Afghan peo­ple and NATO troops on the ground.” 

Dur­ing the Uni­fied Engage­ment sem­i­nar, par­tic­i­pants act in the role of a multi­na­tion­al mil­i­tary staff, and con­sid­er pos­si­ble require­ments and con­cepts for oper­at­ing togeth­er to meet poten­tial future chal­lenges. The par­tic­i­pants look through the spec­trum of oper­a­tions from peace enforce­ment and human­i­tar­i­an relief sit­u­a­tions to coop­er­a­tive secu­ri­ty and sta­bil­i­ty operations. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs)