US Naval vessels along with the US Air Force and Army service members have completed joint training exercise Northern Edge in Alaska.
USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71) and select ships from Carrier Strike Group Nine (CSG-9), along with U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, and Marine Corps service members, successfully concluded Exercise Northern Edge 2019 (NE19), May 24, bringing an end to AlaskaтАЩs largest biannual joint-military training exercise. The training exercise, which ran from May 13тАУ24, was designed to prepare joint forces to respond to crises in the Indo-Pacific.
The exercise, hosted by U.S. Pacific Air Forces, was conducted in the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex, which encompassed more than 60,000 miles of airspace throughout Alaska, and included support infrastructure from two Air Force bases. Over 10,000 service members and approximately 250 aircraft from the Air Force, Army, Marines, and Navy, from active duty, reserve, and National Guard units, participated in the exercise.
Capt. David Fowler, commodore, Destroyer Squadron 23 said: тАЬThis is a very demanding operating area and not something weтАЩre used to. We, as a Navy, need to get acclimated to these regions and work in a joint environment to gain a better appreciation for what our sister services do and what they bring to the table, because should we ever need to truly defend our nation against adversaries, it is going to take all of us working together to achieve that objective. тАЬ
The last time an aircraft carrier participated in Northern Edge was 2009. The Navy believes that RooseveltтАЩs presence and accomplishments during NE19 proved it can operate in the Indo-Pacific region and carry out the NavyтАЩs mission anywhere around the globe.
The Navy has said that it is deepening its commitments to Arctic security and operations in Alaska. Along with Theodore Roosevelt and its embarked CVW-11, four additional Navy ships participated in NE19: USS Russell (DDG 59), USS Kidd (DDG 100), USS John Finn (DDG 113), and USNS Henry J. Kaiser (T-AO 187).
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