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Airmen head to Peru for Exercise COOPERACION III

  • Published
  • 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern)
DAVIS-MONTHAN AFB, Ariz. --  U.S. Air Force Airmen will be participating in Exercise COOPERACION III alongside counterparts from 11 other nations and one observer nation in Lima, Peru, April 21 to May 1.

The exercise, designed to test participants' abilities to respond to humanitarian assistance and disaster response scenarios, will involve more than 30 Airmen from the West Virginia Air National Guard's 130th Airlift Wing and two U.S. C-130 Hercules aircraft during the event.

Events and exchanges, such as COOPERACION III, are conducted regularly throughout the year and involve U.S. Airmen sharing best practices to build partnerships and promote interoperability with partner-nation air forces throughout South America, Central America and the Caribbean.

The COOPERACION III exercise includes participants working together to plan and fly airlift missions that provide relief in the wake of a simulated disaster. The exchanges that take place during the event will focus on medical planning and response, airlift operations, and establishing infrastructure such as an Emergency Operations Center and/or Disaster Relief Warehouse. The exercise is one of many events planned and executed by the System of Cooperation among the American Air Forces, or SICOFAA, which is a voluntary and non-political organization interested in promoting cooperation and union among Western Hemisphere air forces.

The participating nations for the exercise include Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Guatemala (observing), Mexico, Paraguay, Panama, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Peru, and the U.S. For questions about U.S. participation in COOPERACION III, please contact the Twelfth Air Force (Air Forces Southern) Public Affairs office at (520) 228-6053 or via email at 12afbspa@us.af.mil. Additionally, for more information on the 130th Airlift Wing, visit http://www.130aw.ang.af.mil/ and to learn more about SICOFAA, visit http://www.sicofaa.org/.