Cold Response 16 wraps up in Norway

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. R.J. Biermann
  • 31st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
BODØ MAIN AIR STATION, Norway --  After two weeks of partnering together, the Belgian, U.S. and Norwegian air forces wrapped up Exercise Cold Response 16's air operations March 9, 2016, at Bodø Main Air Station, Norway.

"We've wrapped up the exercise at this point," said Lt. Col. Byron Pompa, 555th Fighter Squadron commander. "We had about two weeks of flying with the Norwegians and Belgians, and to see how each other's air forces execute [their mission] on a day-to-day basis. At the end of the day it's all about getting the job done, and that was great to see from all three countries."

Exercises such as CDR16 allow us to work with out allies, partners, and sister services in preparation for real-world events. 

"There was a much bigger part of this exercise on the ground with our U.S. Marine Corps and Army personnel," said Pompa. "As an air component, we contributed with close-air support, defensive counter air support and basic surface attack support."

According to Pompa, the efforts of Team Aviano's Airmen were invaluable to exercise success.

"The professionalism our Airmen have displayed has been outstanding," he said. "It was nice to see us all band as one, big Aviano team to get the mission done."

To demonstrate the primary focus of the exercise 64 sorties were scheduled and the 31st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron maintainers saw to it that 64 sorties were flown.

"Our maintainers achieved 100 percent of their objectives," said Pompa. "The put a jet to every single mission that was on the schedule. One of our biggest goals was to demonstrate to the world that we could pick up, move, hit the ground running and get jets flying relatively quickly. That was an outstanding success from day one."

In addition to the maintainers, the pilots had several opportunities to develop their skills.

"The range here was fantastic for our pilots to drop munitions and shoot the gun," said Pompa. "The Belgians and Norwegians are two countries we don't traditionally work with a lot, so this was a great opportunity to integrate with those two countries."

Partnering with NATO allies for CDR16 allowed each country to learn from one another's differences to ensure a seamless alliance. 

"We might speak different languages, we might all come from different backgrounds, but at the end of the day, we're executing a mission that our government has entrusted us to do," said Pompa. "We're trying to do this mission the best way we can, with the resources we're given. It's nice to see us all operating with the same end-state in mind."

As CDR16 wraps up, Airmen, aircraft and cargo will return to Aviano after successfully furthering the 31st Fighter Wing mission.

"At Aviano we 'Deter aggression, Defend U.S. and NATO interests and Develop Aviano,'" said Pompa. "We deployed six jets from Aviano to Norway and then operated for a two-week, sustained period. It was a pleasure to work with all the great Airmen from Aviano. I'm sure proud of how they performed up here and I'm looking forward to doing it again."