FEBRUARY 6, 2024 – As you and your team arrive, you see it; a sea of various uniforms moving as waves across the facility.
You make your way to your equipment, hearing all the different languages that fill the space, all to support the same event, all to move together as waves in unison.
You step into motion with the wave, hurtling towards the collective goal of enhancing our warfighting advantage.
This is Cope North 24.
Originating in 1978 at Misawa Air Base, Japan, Cope North has transformed into the U.S. Pacific Air Force’s largest annual multilateral exercise. Service members from the U.S., Japanese, French, Australian, Canadian and Korean uniformed services will work interchangeably across three islands and six airfields as part of CN24.
“Exercise Cope North will provide training opportunities and invaluable experience for our people in a challenging scenario, and we are looking forward to working with our friends from the U.S. and Japan again,” said Group Capt. Kylie Green, Royal Australian Air Force Task Group commander. “We are focused on deepening our relationships with the United States Pacific Air Forces and the Koku-Jieitai, and also the participation of Canada, France and the Republic of Korea.”
Cope North enhances U.S. relations and interoperability with regional Allies and partners by fostering the exchange of information and refining shared tactics, techniques, and procedures to better integrate multilateral defense capabilities and enhance interoperability in support of regional security.
Exercise participants are focused on refining agile combat employment capabilities while integrating aerial mission planning and execution.
Additionally, participants will employ effective command and control operations at a tactical level with airlift and logistics training missions from dispersed locations.
The effectiveness of these capabilities was first showcased with an elephant walk to kick off the start of CN24.
“The planning and execution was excellent because all of our partner nations were included in the planning process and physically in the same room to keep the flow of communication rolling,” expressed U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Steven Hood, 756th Air Refueling Squadron KC-135 boom operator. “It was a surreal experience to be a part of the taxi formation alongside our international partners. Everyone’s professionalism and eagerness to work together will propel our war-fighting capabilities in the Pacific.”
Story by Senior Airman Cedrique Oldaker
Pacific Air Forces