Exercise Bright Star
[1] Bright Star is designed to strengthen ties between the Egyptian Armed Forces and the United States Central Command and demonstrate and enhance the ability of the Americans to reinforce their allies in the Middle East in the event of war.
However, U.S. forces proved to be unprepared for the exercise: soldiers were issued jungle fatigues in lieu of desert camouflage (which was not in the U.S. Army inventory in 1980), and hastily-established air traffic control systems caused the loss of 14 USAF personnel when a C-141 Starlifter crash-landed.
In the Autumn of 1995, nearly 60,000 troops took part in the revived Bright Star Exercise, which included nations other than Egypt and the United States for the first time.
An additional 33 nations sent observers to monitor the exercise: Algeria, Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Burundi, Canada, China, Congo, Greece, India, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Morocco, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, Qatar, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Yemen, and Zimbabwe.
The exercise scenario involved a fictional hostile nation named "Orangeland" invading Egypt and trying to take control of the Nile River.
The exercise coalition worked together, practicing fighting in the air, land, and sea domains, to defend the Nile and expel Orangeland.
Forces from Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Spain and the United Kingdom participated in the event.
The National Command Authorities deemed this exercise so important that it continued the operation which began just days before terrorists struck targets on American soil on September 11, 2001.
With much of the exercise planned for taking place in Cairo and other Egyptian locations, security considerations involved addressing terrorist activity in that region of the world.
Since the very nature of the exercise was the US-led coalition of nations acting to protect the middle east and the free flow of oil to the rest of the world, potential targeting of this activity by terrorist was a major concern.
Following the October 2000 terrorist attack on the USS Cole in Yemen's Aden Harbor, USAF Bright Star planners abandoned the plans for housing all participants in hotels and opted for the traditional joint US-Egyptian protected military compounds.
While still in the advance stages of preparation, Hursey and USAF Bright Star Commander Col Dodson
Upon Hursey's recommendation and coordination with US Military and State Department staff, Dodson declared THREATCON DELTA for the USAF Bright Star Operations in Egypt.
In addition, 11 Airmobile Infantry Battalion Garderegiment Grenadiers en Jagers of the Royal Netherlands Army deployed to Egypt for the exercise.
[6] Also more non-traditional training took place during the operation and included a combined computer aided command post exercise introducing partnering soldiers to each other's equipment and updated tactics, thereby developing a better coalition contingency environment.
Military groups from the following nations joined the U.S. and Egypt in Bright Star 2021: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Iraq, Bahrain, Sudan, Morocco, Kuwait, UAE, Tunisia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Pakistan.
