About 18 Soldiers from Charlie Company, 1-214th General Support Battalion, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, provide MedEvac support to Joint Forcible Entry (JFE) Norway, during Swift Response 2022, in Norway from April 29 – May 18. 426 paratroopers from Alaska, a dozen Hungarian special forces, and roughly another dozen from Spain, were scheduled to jump during Joint Forcible Entry Norway. Joint Forcible Entry Norway is one of the airborne operations being executed during Swift Response 2022. Swift Response demonstrates the strategic employment of the Global Response Force and validates the U.S. European Command’s ability to send high readiness forces into a designated area while advancing airborne interoperability among NATO allies.
“We are here providing real-world medical support for the Joint Forcible Entry, as part of Swift Response, a multinational exercise,” said Maj. James Dungca, a brigade surgeon from the 16th Sustainment Brigade. “We have our Norwegian hosts, us the American forces, and the Spanish forces. Just by the setup alone, you can see the interoperability at work.”
“We mitigate the risk to allow the warfighting commanders to get after the high-risk training that we need to stay relevant when approaching a near-peer advisory in the coming years,” explains Capt. Justin Reynolds, MedeVac Operations Officer from Charlie Company, 1-214th General Support Battalion, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade. “In terms of the morale of the warfighter, we help them feel more comfortable. [They know] that we’re there to save their lives, provide en route care and take them safely to a hospital.”
About 10 medical personnel from the 16th Sustainment Brigade out of Baumholder, Germany also took part in the exercise. They were set up in a medical tent right next to the drop zone (DZ) as part of a medical base camp consisting of about 25 multinational personnel. The 12 CAB MedEvac team took the opportunity to learn and exchange training and ideas with their Norwegian counterparts. Exercise Swift Response 2022 is an annual multinational training exercise, which takes place in Eastern Europe, the Arctic High North, Baltics, and Balkans from May 2-20, 2022. The purpose of the exercise is to present combat credible Army forces in Europe and Africa and enhance readiness by building airborne interoperability with Allies and Partners and the integration of joint service partnerships.
The 12th Combat Aviation Brigade is a Combat Aviation Brigade of the United States Army. It was first organized as the 12th Aviation Group at Fort Benning, Georgia, on 18 June 1965. The unit deployed to Vietnam in August 1965 to command non-organic Army aviation units, and by November 1965, the group consisted of 11,000 personnel and 34 aviation units. Between 1965 and 1966 the group doubled in size and was used to form the 1st Aviation Brigade in March 1966. The brigade is currently based around Ansbach, Bavaria, in Germany, and headquartered in Katterbach Kaserne, with subordinate units at Katterbach Army Airfield, Grafenwoehr Army Airfield, and Wiesbaden Army Airfield. In March 2013, for the first time since 2007, the entire 12th CAB returned to Germany, where they continue to train and operate in support of EUCOM and AFRICOM contingency missions. The 12th CAB is currently reorganizing.
