Cope Tiger exercise kicks off In Thailand

  • Published
  • By Capt. Johnny Rea
  • Cope Tiger Public Affairs
KORAT ROYAL THAI AIR FORCE BASE, Thailand (AFPN) --  Aviation units from the U.S. Air Force, Thailand and Singapore, as well as the U.S. Marine Corps, are honing their combat skills in exercise Cope Tiger ’04 here Feb. 16 to 27.

More than 1,370 people, including 770 U.S. servicemembers and 600 servicemembers from Thailand and Singapore, are participating in the annual, joint/combined multilateral exercise.

“Cope Tiger helps demonstrate our commitment to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region,” said Col. George Daniels, senior U.S. Air Force representative and exercise director. “The exercise will improve readiness and interoperability, as well as help maintain solid relationships with nations in the region as we train side-by-side with their air forces.”

Cope Tiger ’04 is conducted in two phases in the Asia-Pacific region. The first phase ended at Paya Lebar Air Base, Singapore, in December, and was a seminar/command post exercise where aircrews from the three countries participated in the planning and exercising of an air operations center.

The second phase is the flying training exercise, which is taking place at this air base about 110 miles northeast of Bangkok.

The flying training portion of the exercise promotes closer relations and enables air force units in the region to sharpen air combat skills and practice interoperability with U.S. Forces, said Colonel Daniels, who is the 13th Air Force director of operations at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

American units participating in the exercise include the 90th Fighter Squadron and 962nd Airborne Air Control Squadron, Elmendorf AFB, Alaska; 909th Air Refueling Squadron and 961st AACS, Kadena AB, Japan; Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 212, Marine Corps Air Station, Iwakuni; Marine Aerial Refueling Squadron 152, Marine Corps Air Station, Futema, Japan; and Marine Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 4, Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station, N.C.