Lieutenant Colonel Ben Jamieson , I'm
the director of operations for the 37th
bomb squadron and the BT F 24 2 lead
out here in Lulu . So bomber task force
are the United States Air Force and the
United States of America's way to send
strategic assets uh like our bombers ,
uh specifically in this case , to be
one to locations around the planet to
demonstrate that we have uh access and
uh demonstrate that we have the
capability with reach to put those
assets in places . It allows us to um
send that strategic messaging to our
allies for the assurance message . Uh
and then deterrence to our would be
adversaries that uh we have that global
reaching power and it gives us great
opportunities to build relationships
and uh integrate with our , our
partners and allies . Uh Cali and uh
Lulu uh is in a , a northern part of
Sweden . So it's a really geographic uh
significant location being close to the
Arctic Circle . And then it was really
just good luck and timing with coming
here to kick when they uh they finally
got allowed to , to join NATO . So
Hungary finally uh approved uh Sweden's
membership bid to NATO . So , being out
here , uh , we actually flew a training
so on the day that , that got through .
So that was really , really neat . And
then , uh , b ones have been to CLI
before . Uh , this is the second time
we've been here but , uh , the first
time we came in the summer . So this
was more of the testing of , uh , can
we do it more in the , uh , austere
Arctic conditions of the winter ? And
that's , it's gone ? Great . Absolutely .
I can't , I can't say enough good
things about the Swedish Air Force . Uh
the people of Lulu and Klis Air Force
Base like the pad is great . Uh The
runway is awesome . The receiving team
was nothing but helpful . Uh They gave
us an awesome facility set up in the uh
Griffin squadron was great . They
hosted us over uh for some integration
training , jumping in uh checking out
their squadron and getting in their SIM ,
they flew a training . So with us and
the local town's been great . Area is
beautiful . Uh Nothing but positive
things to say . So I've done , I've
been flying the B one for 12 years .
I've done a lot of partner in the
allied integration and the Swedes are
top notch . Uh The squadron we
integrated with the 211 was phenomenal .
They're uh very capable , uh very uh
easy to integrate with . They know
exactly what they're doing . They've
been nothing but professionals and uh
this has been one of if not the best
foreign integration exercises I've done .
So there's a summarizing the quote you
don't , uh you don't rise to the
occasion , you fall to the level of
your training . So doing these
interoperability exercises is what sets
us up for success . So if we don't come
to places like Lulu and operate in the
cold and the snow , uh we're not gonna
be able to do it , we need to . And if
we're not used to training and flying
with the Swedes , like it's not going
to happen uh in crisis . So this just
sets us up for success uh in the future
and uh demonstrates that we have the
ability to do it , which sends a really
strong deterrent message . So it's that
capability in the will we , we're
exercising that capability right now .
Just a big thanks again to uh you know ,
the country of Sweden , the Swedish Air
Force and then Kli Air Force Base and
the local community of Lulu . They've
been uh fantastic .