 A-10Z Thunderbolt 2 Aircraft, an airman with a 303rd fighter squadron assigned to the 442nd fighter wing from Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, are in Zaragoza, Spain, participating in SWIFT Response, a part of the larger exercise Defender 23. The 303rd fighter squadron is an Air Force reservist unit. A pilot with the squadron explained the A-10's role in the exercise. Our main mission as the A-10 is close air support so we are doing a lot of integration with JTACS or Joint Terminal Air Controllers who we're talking to on the radio and they embed with larger army units so it's their job to track all the friendlies on the ground and then it's our job to provide weapons effects to them to help save lives. Smith went on to describe his experience working with other NATO allies. Everything's been awesome. We've been able to integrate not only with Spanish JTACS but also with Spanish F-18s. With the JTACS we've been able to do a lot of close air support and we've also gotten to have the American JTACS integrate with them as well and I would say it's been nothing short of awesome to be able to do that. Defender 23 includes more than 7,800 U.S. and 15,000 multinational service members from various allied and partner nations across Europe. Reporting from Zaragoza, Spain, I'm Petty Officer Aaron Sperly.