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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - A ceremony May 15 marked the end of the eighth annual Exercise Eager Tiger, a multinational event during which fighter pilots and crews from around the world gather to practice techniques and enhance interoperability , vertical reported.

Throughout the week, the U.S. and Jordan put their best pilots and maintainers forward to compete in a loading competition, an aircraft scramble and a first-run attack scenario, all aimed at building tactical proficiency while also allowing joint training.

Although it was a competition, both sides emphasized the fact that it was about more than that – it was about improving all air forces involved.

“I think at the heart of it all, we’re the same in both operations and maintenance,” said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Kevin Schneider, commander of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing in Southwest Asia. “We want to be the best and we want to do things right, but we also want to do things better than the competition, even if it is a friendly competition. I enjoyed seeing the camaraderie with a little bit of rivalry – we get better as a result of it.”

Eager Tiger, also known in Jordan as Falcon Air Meet, started in 2006 at the suggestion of His Royal Highness Prince Faisal bin al-Hussein as a way to bring together the global F-16 Fighting Falcon community.

“When missiles are flying is not the time to start learning,” said HRH Prince Faisal. “This is an opportunity for people to learn from each other and to learn how different countries and different operators use effectively the same equipment in fundamentally different ways.

“Should we actually have to go into combat together, we won’t assume the other F-16 users are going to employ the F-16 in the exact same way we do,” he added. “Here, we can learn from the strengths and weaknesses of each country and use that to our benefit.”

For the U.S. military, participating in the exercise has led to a strong relationship that will only grow with continued involvement with Exercise Eager Tiger.

“When I look at the future of our partnership with the Jordanians, I see us continuing to build and improve on what is already a very solid foundation,” said Schneider. “We’re all faced with challenges in terms of resources and limited budgets, so we’re going to need to do more as partners and less as individual nations, and I think that only builds common security and strength through our mutual defense.”

Schneider added the biggest benefit of the exercise for him has been getting to know his Jordanian counterparts.

“They have offered and given us so much to allow this exercise to happen, taking great care of our personnel as they come out here,” he said. “They’re just a fantastic group of people and so focused on the mission. It truly is amazing to see the hospitality that they afford us.”

In upcoming years, Jordan plans to invite even more countries from the region in order to give them the chance to become a part of the camaraderie, partnership and learning that take place during the exercise.