Linked Seas
Linked Seas, an exercise held every three years, focuses on NATO's ability to form, work up and employ maritime assets in response to regional crises.
Joint U.S. forces joined with troops from 11 other nations during Exercise Linked Seas 1997, a NATO exercise, which took place May 5 - 19 in Spain, Portugal and surrounding waters. This exercise focused on peace support operations carried out by a multinational maritime force, along with air and land operations. The scenario is based upon a crisis between two fictional countries whose cease fire lines are supervised by a NATO land force. The multinational maritime force is introduced into the area to defuse the crisis and ensure the safety of the NATO land force on the cease-fire line. NATO forces from Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States participated. Brazil also participated with the approval of the North Atlantic Council.
More than 160 people and three B-52 bombers joined the 16th Air Force Expeditionary Group supporting the NATO exercise Linked Seas at Moron Air Base, Spain. As part of the 16th AEG, which stood up April 28, Minot's 23rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron demonstrated the B-52's versatility during the Linked Seas exercise. The bombers dropped Mark 52 mines, practiced Harpoon anti-ship missile tactics, provided electronic countermeasures and participated in surveillance missions.
Linked Seas 2000 (LS2000), a NATO and Partnership for Peace nations' exercise, was conducted at various locations throughout Portugal's western seaboard from May 2-15. The exercise scenarios included peace support, peace enforcement and disaster relief operations. Seventeen NATO nations, along with five Partnership-for-Peace countries deployed over 30,000 men and women in support of the exercise. Logistic support included over 100 ships, 120 aircraft, one combined Army brigade, two combined Marine battalions and numerous Special Forces units.
US Naval coastal warfare forces, comprised mostly of the US Coast Guard and Navy units, conducted harbor defense and port security operations in the port. They coordinated a layered defense with German fast patrol boats offshore, escorted and protected high-value assets in the port, supported mine counter measures, collected and disseminated information about merchant and naval vessel movements in the port, and provided waterborne security for the port facility.
LS2000 was designed as a peace support operation during a conflict between the fictional independent countries of Greyland and Yellowland (which includes YL Madeira Islands and Porto Santo Island). The relationship between the two became tense due to an economic and territorial conflict of interest. Neither country is a member of NATO, but each is a member of the United Nations. Hostilities between the two affected European and international security interests in the region.
Following a Greyland invasion of the Yellowland shared border area and the threat to invade YL Porto Santo Island, the UN Security Council issued a resolution requesting NATO intervention for peace enforcement and peace support operations to stabilize the situation. NATO subsequently approved forced intervention and directed CINCSOUTHLANT to command the operation. CTF 484's mission was to deploy in YellowLand (YL) and conduct operations aimed to enforce the terms of the General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP) and contribute to the restoration of YL territorial integrity, also to be prepared to conduct humanitarian operations in order to create favorable conditions for the future resolution of the dispute between GreyLand (GL) and YL.
Exercise Linked Seas 2000 allowed CINCA-SOUTHLANT, based in Oeiras, Portugal, to plan and conduct a NATO Task Force work up involving maritime, air, amphibious, and land forces. The Task Force units trained for deployment to two separate crisis areas to conduct peacetime support, non-combatant evacuation operations, and humanitarian efforts. The air objectives of the exercise were to utilize carrier and land based assets in support of a major multi-unit operation and practice associated tactics and procedures.
The exercise was conducted in four major phases. During the first phase, a Rapid Environmental Assessment (REA) of the exercise operating area took place. The REA included a detailed hydrographic survey (four vessels and the SHOALS laser survey aircraft), data collection (topographic, oceanographic and meteorological) and model initialization. The second phase, Combat Enhancement Training (CET), consisted of integrating ships and personnel from participating countries into the appropriate task force. Phase three, Force Integration Training (FIT), was predominantly an opposed transit of maritime forces to Portuguese exercise areas. Phase four, the final phase, the Tactical Exercise (TACEX), was comprised of two simultaneous operations. First was a peace enforcement operation on the mainland of Portugal, with an amphibious landing on May 12, followed by a troop withdrawal on May 14. Second, a sea control/embargo operation in the Madeira area followed by a Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation (NEO) and a disaster relief/humanitarian operation on Porto Santo Island on May 13.
The Air Force's Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle excelled during two missions flown in support of its first international joint military force exercise, Linked Seas '00. While over Portugal, Global Hawk took classified radar imagery of targets in Portugal and the Madeira Islands, disseminating these images via Royal Air Force station Molesworth, U.K., to SOUTHLANT, regional command for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's Supreme Allied Command Atlantic. The 28-hour nonstop sortie was the unmanned aerial vehicle program's 50th test mission.
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