Unipath Staff
Unipath: What is the importance of holding exercises with colleagues from Gulf Cooperation Council partner nations and your strategic partner, the United States?
Maj. Gen. Fahad: Joint exercises with our colleagues in the Gulf Cooperation Council and U.S. forces play an important role because the desired objectives of such exercises are to strengthen and standardize military concepts between GCC and U.S. forces. The goal is to standardize planning and execution procedures and to establish principles and foundations for coordinating the joint work needed to achieve required operational compatibility and integration among the military forces of these nations.
Unipath: What was it like to host the Eagle Resolve exercise for the first time in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia?
Maj. Gen. Fahad: Hosting Eagle Resolve 23 was an exceptional experience whereby countries participating in the exercise sent various forces to take part in training of ground, air and naval forces, along with air defense forces. These forces carried out their training missions in various regions of the kingdom, as well as at the Air Warfare Center in Dhahran. This experience demonstrated the ability of GCC and U.S. military forces to carry out and execute joint operations through good planning and the standardization of shared concepts.
Unipath: What lessons arose from Eagle Resolve 23?
Maj. Gen. Fahad: The importance of continuing the joint work between Saudi forces and the forces of neighboring and U.S. forces. This includes focusing on information operations in joint exercises, live ammunition training for the joint forces, sharing experience and knowledge about the latest military technologies and training, and strengthening teamwork among participating countries.
Unipath: How long did it take to plan and carry out the exercise?
Maj. Gen. Fahad: Planning and implementation of this exercise took nearly a year, and eight conferences were held, seven of which were in Riyadh and the most recent of which was a conference in Tampa, Florida. These included conferences on concept development and field surveys of proposed exercise sites, the main and final planning conferences, and supply planning conferences. The exercise commenced with implementation of the arrival plan for the participating forces and educational lectures covering several fields, including cyber security, information operations, and operational integration. After that the exercise operations started with the participation of GCC and U.S. forces encompassing ground, air, naval and missile forces. The exercise concluded with a seminar by the senior military commanders of the participating states.
Unipath: In what way did the exercise achieve its planned objectives?
Maj. Gen. Fahad: One of the primary objectives of Eagle Resolve 23 was to strengthen military cooperation, exchange skills in the field of missile air defense of the participating nations, standardize planning and implementation procedures, and establish the principles and foundations for coordinating joint work to achieve the required compatibility and integration. These objectives were successfully achieved by following the agreed upon exercise plans, thanks be to God.
Unipath: What was your impression of the joint forces’ performance?
Maj. Gen. Fahad: Participating forces coordinated well to standardize concepts before they even launched exercise operations. These forces benefited from their previous participation in joint exercises with the U.S. side, whether carried out in the Arabian Gulf or in the United States. The forces of participating countries also showed superior professionalism and flexibility when carrying out exercise operations, whether at the air warfare center or during field exercises in various parts of the kingdom. This was patently clear from the assessment reports compiled by specialist evaluators throughout the exercise.