U.S. Air National Guard F-15s deploying to Iceland and the Netherlands “to deter further Russian aggression”

March 31, 2016 Military Aviation, Russia
David Cenciotti
U.S. Air Force Col. John York, 144th Operations Group commander, taxis in an F-15C Eagle during his fini flight with the 144th Fighter Wing at the Fresno Air National Guard Base Jan. 8, 2016. (Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Klynne Pearl Serrano)

Time for another deployment to Europe.

Beginning tomorrow, 12 F-15C Eagles and approximately 350 Airmen and support equipment belonging to the 131st Fighter Squadron, Barnes Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, and the 194th Fighter Squadron, Fresno Air National Guard Base, California, will deploy to the European theater for a 6-month tour in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve.

The arrival of these F-15s marks the latest iteration of a Theater Security Package (TSP), a temporary deployment from CONUS (Continental US) of a force whose aim is to augment the Air Force presence in a specific region, for deterrence purposes.

The TSP “will conduct training alongside NATO allies and partners as part of OAR to strengthen interoperability, demonstrate the U.S. commitment to a Europe that is whole, free, at peace, secure, and prosperous and to deter further Russian aggression,” according to a USAF release.

The wording with the reference to the Russian aggression is noteworthy.

Interestingly, the F-15s will head to two separate locations to simultaneously: Keflavik, in Iceland, to undertake air policing duties in support of NATO, and Leeuwarden Air Base, Netherlands.

While at Leeuwarden, the F-15s will also take part in Exercise Frisian Flag.

As done by the TSPs last year, during their six months in theater, the F-15s will also forward deploy to other NATO and partner nations to include Bulgaria, Estonia and Romania.

Image credit: U.S. Air Force

 

Related articles
About David Cenciotti
WebsiteFacebookTwitterLinkedIn instagram
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

Related Articles

1 Comment

  1. Still not tired of the “russian aggression” propaganda? We sure are.
    In the mean time, Azerbaijan, the new nato (yank) BF, after the debacles with Ukraine, and Syria, started an offensive against Armenia’s Nagorno-Karabakh enclave, with the usual “liberation of occupied territories” rhetoric. The azeri recently welcomed a new nato base near Baku, and Kerry demanded “an ultimate resolution” of the two-decade-old Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, just days ago. Also, previous summer nato (yank)’s “color revolution” in Yerevan failed. Should we expect an armenian genocide 2.0 at the ottoman/azeri hands, now with nato (yank) backing?
    Last month also showed an increase in ukrop attack intensity on the peoples’ republics, with sustained shelling of civilians near the contact line.
    Coincidentally, the azeri bigwig was attending NSS in DC, with the rest of yank’s vassals, last week. Some sideline planning for fanning the flames along Russia’s borders?
    But Russia is the aggressor…

Comments are closed.