FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas –
U.S. Army North civilians provided critical support to a combined air defense training exercise conducted by elements of the 263rd Army Air and Missile Defense Command, or AAMDC, and Canada’s 22 Wing North Bay in North Bay, Ontario, from Aug. 11 to 22.
Key to the exercise’s success were transportation specialist Chris Lowd, joint operation planning and execution system specialist Rodney Murphy, program analyst Kim Cobb and logistics management specialist Rodney Jones, said Maj. Dianna Garcia, ARNORTH air defense planner.
“Cobb was able to find the money to fund the exercise, even though it hadn’t been forecasted, which was essential,” Garcia said. “Jones was key to working the cross-service agreement, which allowed the exercise costs to be shared by the U.S. and Canada.”
Garcia, who was the primary ARNORTH planner for this exercise, noted that this was the first time that a U.S. Army air defense unit had participated in training north of the U.S.- Canadian border. The 263rd AAMDC is one of ARNORTH’s subordinate commands and is based in South Carolina.
The training was part of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, ongoing series of exercises and was designed to confirm interoperability in air defense procedures between NORAD and 22 Wing.
“NORAD continuously works to defend against potential threats to the airspace of Canada and the United States, both conventional and unconventional,” said Canadian Major-General Christian Drouin, commander of 1 Canadian Air Division and the Canadian NORAD Region. “Exercises like this one not only hone the skills of our men and women, but build upon our ability to work together seamlessly in support of NORAD’s commitment to detect, deter and defend against threats to Canada’s airspace.”
More than 60 soldiers from the 263rd AAMDC, along with three sets of Sentinel radars and Avenger missile launchers, deployed by both ground and air to Canada for the training.
Canadian aircraft flew over the North Bay area from many different angles, verifying the ability of the 263rd AAMDC to detect them with their Sentinel radars and simulate engaging them with their Avenger missile systems. No live ammunition was deployed and no live-fire training was conducted.
“During the exercise, the 263rd AAMDC prosecuted multiple targets,” Garcia said. “It was a very worthwhile training event.”
After the exercise, Maj. Gen. Glenn Bramhall, 263rd AAMDC commander, presented coins to Lowd and Murphy in the ARNORTH Current Operations Integration Center Aug. 25, thanking them for their outstanding support in orchestrating the movement of an Avenger squad from the 263rd AAMDC from their home station in South Carolina to Ontario, Canada, and back.