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Before the flight: Maintaining excellence

BEJA AIR BASE, Portugal – Pilots assigned to the 480th Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, walk out to F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft while participating in Trident Juncture 2015 at Beja Air Base, Portugal, Oct. 22, 2015. More than 40 aircraft from nine nations and 3,000 military members are deployed to Portugal in support of Trident Juncture 2015. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Luke Kitterman/Released)

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Before the flight: Maintaining excellence

BEJA AIR BASE, Portugal – An F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft pilot, assigned to the 480th Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, secures himself in the cockpit of an F-16 before a mission at Exercise Trident Juncture 2015 at Beja Air Base, Portugal, Oct. 22, 2015. Exercises such as Trident Juncture 15 make sure that forces from across the Alliance know how to work together seamlessly, whenever they are needed. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Luke Kitterman/Released)

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Before the flight: Maintaining excellence

BEJA AIR BASE, Portugal – Two F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft, assigned to the 480th Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, taxi towards the runway before a mission at Exercise Trident Juncture 2015 at Beja Air Base, Portugal, Oct. 22, 2015. The 480th FS deployed five F-16s and approximately 130 Airmen to Beja in support of Trident Juncture 2015, the largest NATO exercise conducted in the past 20 years. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Luke Kitterman/Released)

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Before the flight: Maintaining excellence

BEJA AIR BASE, Portugal – An F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft, assigned to the 480th Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, soars through the sky during a training mission for Trident Juncture 2015 at Beja Air Base, Portugal, Oct. 22, 2015. Trident Juncture 2015 is a multiservice, multinational exercise designed to demonstrate NATO's resolve, capability and capacity to meet present and future security challenges. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Luke Kitterman/Released)

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Trident Juncture 2015 yields results

Published Nov. 17, 2015
By Airman 1st Class Luke Kitterman
52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs

SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany -- Five F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter aircraft and more than 150 Airmen from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, recently returned after the conclusion of exercise Trident Juncture 2015 at Beja Air Base, Portugal.

The five F-16s, assigned to the 480th Fighter Squadron, flew a total of 98 sorties amounting to 181 flying hours during the 17-day exercise.

"The average sortie duration was 1.9 hours, which is slightly higher than the average of 1.72 hours at Spangdahlem," said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Andrew Patterson, 52nd Maintenance Operations Squadron aircraft maintenance unit scheduling NCO in charge. "These missions were critical to our pilots' combat readiness, training, and our overall ability as a fighter wing to fly alongside NATO and allied partners."

According to the NATO Allied Air Command website, more than 500 sorties totaling approximately 900 flight hours were executed at Beja Air Base.

Trident Juncture 2015 was recorded as the largest NATO exercise in the past 20 years. The exercise consisted of more than 30,000 troops from over 30 nations and was geared toward demonstrating the ability to respond to a large-scale crisis scenario.