Two US Air Force B-52H Stratofortress aircraft participated in “Brother's Shield”, an exercise led by the Colombian Air Force, and in “UNITAS LXI”, an exercise led by the Ecuadorian Navy, in the US Southern Command's area of responsibility. USA . November 8th.
This dual mission began well before the B-52H crews took off that morning. There were numerous teleconferences and planning meetings to coordinate t training exercises between the US Air Force and our partner nation's military.
Brother's Shield was the first mission to be completed in commemoration of the 101st anniversary of the Colombian Air Forces. B-52H crews ed Colombian Air Force Kfir fighter pilots in air-to-air intercept training while developing interoperability capabilities to enhance hemispheric security and regional stability in line with NATO standards between the US and Colombia .
Maj. From the US Air Force Angel Serna, 12th Air Force Officer (Southern Air Force) of Colombia, explained that the name of the exercise “Brother's Shield” developed from the close relationship between the US Air Force and the US Air Force. from Colombia. During this training mission, Colombian Kfirs flew in formation with US Air Force B-52Hs to protect them from enemy fighters.
“Whenever we have the privilege of integrating with our allies in a fighter integration or naval exercise, we are excited”, said US Air Force Captain Joshua Henry, pilot of the 96th B-52H Bomb Squadron and mission leader. “We identified many similarities in the way Colombians conduct their interception training, and working with the UNITAS exercise has also proven to be very beneficial. Further developing our tactics, techniques and procedures with the navy is always beneficial to us as aviation players as this is not something we have the opportunity to train on a consistent basis with real-time naval assets. ”
UNITAS is an annual naval exercise held in Atlantic and Pacific waters around Central and South America. The Ecuadorian Navy hosted this year's exercise from November 2 to 11, with participants from eleven countries. B-52 aircrews were integrated and trained with forces combined for UNITAS to include the Ecuadorian Navy to provide a simulated dynamic targeting capability for naval forces.
“I've never worked with the Colombian or Ecuadorian military before, but whenever we as a community have the opportunity to work with partner nations, we always learn a lot,” said Henry. “Colombia and Ecuador were very professional and many of our lessons learned were carried forward from the planning stages.”
Source: USAF
