U.S. Forces Participate in Exercise Bright Star in Egypt

The U.S., along with forces from partner nations, have joined Egypt for Exercise Bright Star 2021 at Mohamed Naguib Military Base, Egypt on Sept. 2 - 16.

This exercise will build off the success of Bright Star 2018. Approximately 600 U.S. military personnel will participate in the exercise, which was originally scheduled for 2020, but postponed due to the COVID 19 pandemic, according to the U.S. Central Command Public Affairs.

“This exercise is an important professional development tool to test and validate concepts, procedures, and tactics. More broadly, they enable militaries to grow capabilities, and prepare to quickly respond to demanding crisis situations,” said Maj. Gen. Steven J. deMilliano, Director of Exercises and Training Directorate, United States Central Command.

The scenario for this year will test each country’s ability to work together to address regional challenges across air, land, sea and cyber domains. The exercise construct will consist of a field training exercise with a combined-arms live-fire exercise, command post exercise and a senior leader seminar to facilitate information sharing from the tactical to the strategic levels.

Exercise Bright Star builds on the strategic security relationship between Egypt and the United States, which plays a leading role in regional security and efforts to combat the spread of extremism. The first Bright Star exercise took place in 1980 with this year being the 17th iteration.