MIROSłAWIEC, Poland -- Five Airmen with the 178th Wing Operations Group temporarily deployed to Mirosławiec Air Base, Poland to support Clear Sky 2018 (CS-18), Oct. 8-19.
CS-18 is a United States Air Forces in Europe sponsored training exercise hosted by the Ukrainian air force. It focuses on command and control, air sovereignty, air mobility, personnel recovery, air-to-ground operations, and cyber defense. Nine countries are participating in the exercise, with the United States supplying 250 participants.
A vital aspect of CS-18 is enhancing the U.S. Air Force’s ability to work with allies and partner nations to maintain joint readiness. The 178th Airmen played an important role in the success of the exercise by providing MQ-9 Reaper operations support.
“It’s critical to build relationships from the operator level,” said Maj. Paul, an MQ-9 Reaper pilot with the 178th Operations Group. “Becoming more comfortable working together and learning how we can help each other will make us more effective executing future missions.”
CS-18 promotes strong relationships between the United States and its allies and partner nations.
“Working with our partner nations develops more trust,” said Staff Sgt. Dustin, a Mission Intelligence Coordinator (MIC) with the 178th Operations Group. “It shows we are willing to help them out in any way we can.”
The experience gained by the members with the 178th will continue to be beneficial after the completion of CS-18. Airmen can implement what they learned upon returning to their units.
“It’s been an eye opening experience. We’ve learned a lot of things that we will be able to bring to the fight,” said Master Sgt. Matt, a MIC with the 178th Operations Group.
An additional Airman with the 178th Operations Group also contributed to the exercise from Ukraine.