Airmen Take Part in NATO Drill Over Iceland

Nearly 100 airmen joined NATO allies for exercise Northern Viking at the former Naval Air Station Keflavik in Iceland. An Air Force Reserve Command KC-135 from the 459th Air Refueling Wing at JB Andrews, Md., accompanied F-16s from the Wisconsin Air National Guard’s 115th Fighter Wing, joining Danish, Italian, and Norwegian aircraft in practicing air defense tactics. Italian Eurofighter Typhoons made their debut at the exercise, flying with US and Norwegian F-16s for the first time, while a duo of Norwegian Dassault Falcon 20 electronic warfare aircraft flew jamming sorties. USAF’s 1st Combat Communications Squadron from Ramstein AB, Germany, and the Icelandic Coast Guard supported the week-long exercise that ended on June 10. The biennial event helps provide the partner nations’ forces with “continuity from year-to-year to sustain our combat capability,” explained Lt. Col. Brian Vaugh, exercise director. (Keflavik report by SrA. Ryan Roth)