WEBVTT

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- [Esteban] 270 airmen and 12 F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft

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from the 48th Fighter Wing

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departed RAF Lakenheath for Ovda Airbase, Israel

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for Exercise Juniper Falcon.

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The exercise provided an opportunity

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to increase interoperability between the U.S. Air Force

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and Israeli Air Force.

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48th Fighter Wing commander, Colonel Evan Pettus,

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explained why it is so important

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to have exercises like Juniper Falcon.

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- Israel is an important strategic partner.

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^These mill-to-mill exercises like Juniper Falcon

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^not only strengthen the capabilities

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^of the Israeli Air Force,

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our understanding of their capabilities,

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but they increase our cooperation

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with that important ally.

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- [Esteban] The unique environment of Israel

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provided the 494th Fighter Squadron

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an opportunity that they don't often get to employ

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back at home station.

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^- From a tactical perspective,

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^we do a lot of training with the GPS-guided bombs

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^while we're in England,

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^and here we actually have the opportunity

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to see the ground with our targeting systems.

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And so getting to knock off the rust,

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that's a big takeaway for us, being here.

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- [Esteban] No matter the differences in the environment,

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Colonel Pettus said most operations remain similar.

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- It's almost surprising how similar it is.

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The jets are painted a little bit different paint scheme,

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based on the environment,

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but we use the same tactics, a lot of the same terminology,

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and one of the things that we do while we're here

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is iron out those little divergences

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so that we can work together.

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- [Esteban] Exercises like Juniper Falcon further strengthen

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relationships between the U.S. and Israel,

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ensuring regional peace and stability.

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Reporting from Ovda Airbase, Israel,

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I'm Staff Sergeant Esteban Esquilin.