- The US and different militaries held main aviation and special-operations drills in Greece this spring.
- The workouts had been held amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an assault that upended Europe’s safety.
- The drills present how the US and NATO are investing in entry and affect in southeastern Europe.
Tensions in Europe with Russia have remained excessive since Moscow launched its unprovoked assault on Ukraine in February, however Russian affect remains to be sturdy in some elements of the continent.
Nations within the Balkans and the Jap Mediterranean area have at all times had a fragile relationship with Moscow, partly due to shared kinship, as in Serbia and Bulgaria, and partly due to shared faith, as in Greece.
The Balkans has been steadily shifting away from Moscow, nevertheless. A number of nations there have joined NATO lately, together with North Macedonia, the alliance’s latest member.
As Russian tanks had been advancing on Kyiv earlier this yr, to the south the US and different nations had been collaborating in two large-scale workouts, involving dozens of plane and lots of of particular operators, in Greece.
These main air fight and special-ops drills present how the US and its companions are attempting to lock down an vital a part of Europe amid growing competitors with Russia.
Iniochos and Orion 22
US Air Pressure/Employees Sgt. Alexandra M. Longfellow
Iniochos is quick turning into one of many largest and most vital air workouts within the area, with air forces from Europe and the Center East becoming a member of different NATO militaries for the annual occasion.
Iniochos 22, which started in late March, concerned dozens of plane from 10 nations, together with Israeli F-16Is, Italian A-200As, French Rafale F3, US F-15Es and F/A-18s, and Greek F-16Cs, F-4Es, and Mirage 2000-5BGs. The US additionally flew MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial automobiles.
This yr’s iteration of the Greece-hosted train additionally included drills on a number of completely different mission units, together with offensive counter-air operations, air protection, airborne reconnaissance, fight search and rescue, time-sensitive goal missions, high-value airborne asset missions, and counter surface-force operations.
US Army/Sgt. Hannah Hawkins
As Iniochos 22 was wrapping up in early April, greater than 1,000 pilots, maintainers, and particular operators from six nations had been coming collectively in Greece for Orion 22 to conduct lifelike joint special-operations workouts.
US Navy SEALs, Army Inexperienced Berets, Navy Particular Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen, Air Pressure Fight Controllers, and Air Pressure Pararescuemen participated within the train.
“It’s so spectacular to see the way in which through which the Hellenic Armed Forces has been in a position to deepen its partnership with the US Special Forces Neighborhood, together with the SEALS and Army Operators who’re right here at this time as a part of this train,” the US ambassador to Greece on the time, Geoffrey Pyatt, stated following the train.
Commandos from the US, Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Israel, and France skilled for air, sea, and land operations in 22 places throughout Greece. The operators had been supported by 32 fighter-jet sorties and 64 helicopter missions as part of drills simulating shut air help.
US Army/Sgt. Hannah Hawkins
Iniochos and Orion 22 additionally passed off amid rising tensions within the Jap Mediterranean area.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and different Turkish leaders have directed harsh rhetoric in opposition to Greece and Cyprus, together with a veiled risk to invade Greece, with which Turkey has longstanding disputes.
The rising tensions between NATO members on the alliance’s vital southeastern flank come at a time when leaders on either side of the Atlantic have sought unity within the face of the Russian aggression in Ukraine.
Safety accomplice of alternative
US Army/Sgt. Hannah Hawkins
Pyatt, who stood down as ambassador this spring and is nominated for an additional US State Division put up, additionally stated after Orion 22 that Greece is “a safety accomplice of alternative” within the Jap Mediterranean, Black Sea, and Balkan areas.
Lately, the US has upgraded its safety alliance with Greece. In 2018, the US navy’s European Command determined to prioritize the navy partnership with Greece, recognizing it as one in every of NATO’s key members.
Greece has benefited significantly from the upgraded navy alliance with the US. In just some years, the Greek navy has acquired Mark V Particular Operations Craft, OH-58 Kiowa mild assault and reconnaissance helicopters, M1117 Guardian armored safety automobiles. US troops have additionally been a extra seen presence in Greece.
“I’m very assured that that partnership goes to proceed to speed up and deepen into the long run as a result of it rests on the premise of shared pursuits but in addition our shared democratic values,” Pyatt stated this spring.
Stavros Atlamazoglou is a protection journalist specializing in particular operations, a Hellenic Army veteran (nationwide service with the 575th Marine Battalion and Army HQ), and a Johns Hopkins College graduate. He’s working towards a grasp’s diploma in technique and cybersecurity on the Johns Hopkins’ Faculty of Superior Worldwide Research.
