More than 200 Belgian military personnel, from the land, air and medical components, are engaged for a fortnight in Southern Strike, a multinational exercise in the US state of Mississippi, military sources said on Tuesday.
This is the first Belgian participation in the exercise, according to the Special Operation Regiment (SOR), which sees it as recognition that it is considered a competent and reliable partner, especially within the international special forces community.
The exercise will take place from 13 to 28 April at the Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC), run by the Air National Guard (ANG) in Mississippi, the sources told Belga.
The bulk of the Belgian detachment is provided by the SOR, which oversees the 2nd Commando Battalion in Flawinne, the 3rd Parachute Battalion in Tielen, the specialised training centres, the 6th CIS group and the Special Forces Group (SFG), an elite unit that led the Red Kite evacuation operation in Kabul in August 2021 after the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan.
Many other units of the land component are also involved, with medical reinforcement.
The air component, for its part, is represented by one of its new Airbus A400M Atlas transport aircraft from the 15th wing in Melsbroek, as well as the weather wing from Beauvechain, the same sources added.
Southern Strike is a joint exercise held for the past decade by the Mississippi Air National Guard at CRTC, located near the city of Biloxi on the Gulf of Mexico.
The mission of CRTC is to provide a unique multi-domain training opportunity for US and allied military units, air, land and even naval, conventional and special forces, to prepare combat capability for deployment around the world, the Defense Press Office said.
The Belgian participation focuses on joint air-land planning and integration, with the participation of one Special Operations Task Unit and one Special Operations Air Task Unit - Fixed Wing, for a total of 208 personnel.
SOR soldiers will primarily use military free-fall parachuting to conduct actions on a target during reconnaissance missions, marking and preparing landing and drop zones, capturing key enemy personnel and extracting expatriates, the Defence Press Office added.
For the SOR, this exercise represents “an important step in the strategic plan and its transformation” towards planning and executing special operations, its new raison d’être.
