BALTIC OPERATIONS 2019 (BALTOPS 2019)
Friday, June 7, the Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2019 opening ceremony will be held at 1 p.m. (CET) with remarks from U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Andrew Lewis, U.K. Royal Navy Rear Adm. Andrew Burns and DEU Navy Rear Adm. Christian Bock at Kiel Naval Base.
Background:
The focus of the exercise is for ground, maritime, and air forces from 18 participating nations to work together in exercising air defense, maritime interdiction, anti-subsurface warfare, mine countermeasures, and amphibious operations in order to strengthen the development of our joint leaders and teams across all layers of the battlespace within the Baltic region.
Demonstrating partnership, presence, and professionalism in a multinational exercise, such as BALTOPS, 18 countries leverage the relationships developed between allies and partner nations, allowing them to work together to improve overall coordination and interoperability between allies and partners. What we do during exercises in times of peace makes us more capable together should we need to respond to crises.
The 47th annual iteration of the premiere Baltic Operations training exercise will be commanded on behalf of Naval Forces Europe by U.S. Navy 2nd Fleet, Vice Adm. „Woody“ Lewis. Lewis will command 8,600 personnel across 36 air assets, 50 ships, and two submarines.
U.S. 2nd Fleet, established Aug. 2018, is one way the U.S. is mobilizing in response to the changing security environment, and is focused on the development and employment of maritime forces in the North Atlantic and Arctic. BALTOPS 2019 marks the first time U.S. 2nd Fleet is operating in Europe.
Text: PIZ Marine