KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft and personnel assigned to the 507th Air Refueling Wing, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, arrived at Ørland Air Station, Norway, to take part in Exercise Cold Response 20 (CR20) from March 9-18.
The U.S. will be represented by service members from each of its military services who will join forces with Norway and eight other allied and partner nations. In total, some 15,000 personnel will take part in this large-scale, tactical field training exercise, which is being hosted by the Kingdom of Norway.
CR20 is designed to enhance military capabilities and allied cooperation in high-intensity warfighting in a challenging Arctic environment with rugged terrain and extreme cold weather. This exercise will emphasize and test critical activities ranging from the reception of allied and partner reinforcements and command and control interoperability to combined joint combat operations, force sustainment, and combat logistics.
The U.S. has a long and close relationship with Norway on defense and security cooperation. At any given time, Norway is hosting training or exercises with the U.S. and other allies and partners to support interoperability of forces. CR20, like a long list of other exercises, is defensive in nature, and intended to secure the collective defense of Norway and the alliance.
For more information on the 507th ARW’s participation in the exercise, call +49 (0) 6371-47-6558 or e-mail usafepao.pao@us.af.mil. If after duty hours, please call +49 (0) 1624-25-5428 or e-mail usafepa.pastaffdutyofficer@us.af.mil.
Media interested in covering the live portion of the exercise from March 9-18, should contact U.S. Marine Corps Forces Europe’s Communication Strategy and Operations’ director, U.S. Marine Maj. Adrian Rankine-Galloway at +49.703.115.2796 or adrian.j.rankinegall@usmc.mil.