News>Michigan ANG in Estonia for Saber Strike 2012
Photos
Airmen from the Michigan Air National Guard’s 127th Wing disembark from a C-17 Globemaster III at Amari Air Base, Estonia, June 8, 2012. The C-17 was delivering cargo and Air Force personnel to Estonia to participate in Saber Strike 2012, a multi-national exercise based in Estonia and Latvia. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Daniel Heaton)
Staff Sgt. Cecil Manning guides an A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft moments after it landed at Amari Air Base, Estonia, June 8, 2012. The aircraft, flown by the Michigan Air National Guard’s 107th Fighter Squadron, Airmen were in Estonia to participate in Saber Strike 2012, a multi-national exercise based in Estonia and Latvia. Manning is a crew chief with the 127th Maintenance Group with the Michigan Air National Guard. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Daniel Heaton)
by Tech. Sgt. Daniel Heaton
127th Wing Public Affairs
6/11/2012 - AMARI AIR BASE, Estonia (AFNS) -- The Michigan Air National Guard has landed in Estonia.
Operating as part of Saber Strike 2012, a multi-national exercise based in Estonia and Latvia, the Michigan ANG has landed KC-135 Stratotanker and A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft at Amari Air Base, Estonia.
"We are eager to begin working with our Estonian partners and to build upon the existing partnership between our two nations," said Lt. Col. Emmanuel Saridakis, the commander of the 107th Fighter Squadron, which flies the A-10s home-based at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich. "The capabilities that the A-10 can bring to bear represent an important asset in any operation or exercise."
The A-10 is a close air support aircraft and will be operating over both Estonia and Latvia as part of the exercise. The KC-135 is an aerial refueling platform. Both aircraft are able to support a variety of missions, depending on the needs of local commanders.
Saber Strike 2012 involves approximately 2,000 personnel from eight countries. Saber Strike is part of an ongoing cooperative training effort primarily focused on the three nations of the Baltic States: Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. This exercise prepares participants to operate successfully in a joint, multinational, integrated environment with host-nation support from civil and governmental agencies. In addition to the U.S., Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, other participants include Canada, Finland, France and the UK.
About 150 Michigan ANG personnel are on the ground in Estonia, with a few Airmen in neighboring Latvia, to support the exercise. The Airmen are primarily from the 127th Wing at Selfridge ANGB, but include some Airmen from all four of the principal ANG facilities in Michigan.
"The cooperation that we have enjoyed with the Estonian air force has been outstanding," said Chief Master Sgt. Dennis Barriger, one of the senior enlisted members of the Michigan contingent. "This mission is all about building partnerships between our nations, and I am seeing that happen right now on the ground as individuals in the different uniforms get to know one another."
Barriger said that Michigan Airmen and Estonian airmen are working directly together, according to their military job classification.
"Our transportation people are working with their transportation people, medical with medical and so on," he said. "That's where the relationships are really built."
Easing the transition process for the Michigan Airmen is the similarity of the Amari base with the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center in northern Michigan.
"The facilities here in Amari are excellent," Barriger said. "That plus the landscape and climate remind me very much of northern Michigan."
