Defender Pacific 2020 expands across breadth of the theater

By U.S. Army PacificSeptember 10, 2020

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii - U.S. Army units from Joint Base Lewis-McChord are in final preparations with U.S. Air Force partners for Joint Operations into the Aleutian Islands as part of Defender Pacific 20.

America’s First Corps and 7th Infantry Division are employing their tactical operations centers to provide command and control of joint forcible entry exercises across Alaska over the next week.

The Defender Pacific 20 exercise commenced weeks earlier with joint forces deploying to Guam and maneuvering by air and sea to Palau in a demonstration of assurance to our allies and partners in the region.

“The next phase of the exercise will increase in scale and joint complexity, as we exercise multi domain operations in support of Indo-Pacific Command,” said Col. James Bartholomees, U.S. Army Pacific Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations.

Defender Pacific 20 is a joint exercise that demonstrates strategic readiness by deploying combat credible forces across the Indo-Pacific Theater of operations contributing to a free and open Pacific.