those who remained current on the topic, the coincidental nature
of the occurrence of both facts was obvious. Nonetheless, after the
first week of the exercise involving several US and Polish aircraft,
the Russian authorities announced the withdrawal of forces tempo-
rarily stationed close to the Ukrainian border.
Operations
The aircraft hailing from Lakenheath and Spangdahlem, and sta-
tioned in Łask and Krzesiny, were conducting two sorties a day -
in the morning, and the afternoon. 6-8 aircraft of each type were
usually taking off. Apart from the joint sorties, conducted with the
3rd, 6th, and 10th Squadron of the Polish Air Force, the USAF pilots
also flew some missions independently - such as an overflight of
the Baltic States done by a two-ship formation of F-15Es. The Pan-
thers made another appearance there a few weeks later, partaking
in the national holiday in Estonia. However, the latter flypast took off
directly from Lakenheath, and it was also supported by a KC-135R
AVIATION
