Stars and Stripes:
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy — The U.S. military and several European allies this week conducted the first of what officials expect will be many air and missile defense exercises aimed at projecting power to thwart potential threats in the region.
Dubbed Astral Knight 2019 and led by the U.S. Air Force, the drills involved airmen, soldiers and sailors from the United States and Croatia, Italy and Slovenia, both at Aviano Air Base and other locations.
The message to would-be adversaries was that the allies are prepared to “meet and defeat any threat to the U.S. and our partners,” said Lt. Gen. Steven L. Basham, Deputy Commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa, at a press conference Tuesday.
