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Exercise Cope North focuses enhances Japan, U.S. operations

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  • By 36th Wing Public Affairs
Units from the U.S. Air Force, and the Japan Air Self Defense Force will participate in exercise Cope North 09-1 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, from Feb. 2-13. 

Cope North 09-1 is the first iteration of a regularly scheduled joint and bilateral exercise and is part of the on-going series of exercises designed to enhance air operations in defense of Japan. 

JASDF F-2s from the 6th Squadron, Tsuiki Air Base, and E-2Cs from the 601st Squadron, Misawa Air Base, will join forward deployed USAF F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 18th Aggressor Squadron, Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, B-52 Stratofortress' currently deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam, from the 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, and Navy EA-6B from VAQ-136 Carrier Air Wing Five, Atsugi, Japan, will participate in this year's exercise with a focus on interoperability. 

The Cope North exercise is one of the longest-running series of exercises in the Pacific theater. Since the first Cope North exercise in 1978, thousands of American and Japanese personnel have honed skills that are vital to maintaining a high level of readiness. The exercise has been in the planning stages for several months and bears no connection to any real-world events. This will be the tenth time the United States and Japan have held a Cope North exercise on Guam, and it will be the fourth time that the JASDF will use live ordinance.