STUTTGART, GERMANY - More than 240 U.S. Airmen deployed to Exercise Arctic Challenge 2017 alongside NATO and European partners in a combined advanced aerial combat training exercise.

U.S. Airmen from the 48th Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England deployed to Rovaniemi Air Base, Finland and Airmen from the 100th Air Refueling Wing, RAF Mildenhall, England, deployed to and Kallax Air Base, Sweden and will both support Arctic Challenge.

A total of 12 F-15Cs and two KC-135s will participate in this exercise.

Arctic Challenge is a multinational training exercise to strengthen partnerships with other militaries in the region. Airmen will practice mobilizing; evaluate aircraft, personnel and weapons capabilities; and train in multinational operations. The scenarios involve notional, simulated events, as well as combined flying operations between the countries.

Through continued, realistic, interoperability exercises like Arctic Challenge, U.S., Allies and partner nations build on their expertise in the air, creating a credible force, ready to respond to a crisis together.

--30--

Photos and videos will be posted at: http://www.usafe.af.mil/.

Contact usafepa.pastaffdutyofficer@us.af.mil for info.

U.S. European Command is one of the United States' two forward-deployed Geographic Combatant Commands whose area of focus covers almost one-fifth of the planet, including all of Europe, large portions of Asia, parts of the Middle East and the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans.  The command is responsible for military relations with NATO and 51 countries with a total population of close to a billion people.