The Commander of the Third Air Force of the U.S Military, Lt. Gen. Frank Gorenc, arrived in Israel to prepare for a joint training exercise between the Israel Air Force and the U.S. Army. The ‘Austere Challenge’ (AC) exercise will take place next year and Lt. Gen. Gorenc’s visit will strengthen the ties and coordination between the forces, wrote the IAF website.

Lt. Gen. Gorenc toured an Iron Dome battery, Palmachim airbase and the Israeli Test Bed (ITB) facility in Holon, which simulates the operations of aerial defense systems at war.

Gorenc, who in his current role commands all American forces coordinating with the IDF, is an executive pilot in the U.S Air Force and has commanded on combat squadrons and the Air Force District of Washington.

“The purpose of the visit is to practice commands and mutual regulations, in the fields as well as in the command center, as a part of preparation for the AC”, Lieutenant Colonel Dedi Meiri, Commander of the Flight Squadron in the Active Defense Wing, told IAF Website’s Shir Bram. “We’re showing the general the fields, what really goes on in the batteries. Then we’ll practice system cooperation and coordination in the ITB, [with anti-missile systems] such as Arrow and David’s Sling”.

The general’s tour began at Battery A of “Iron Dome”, which intercepted a rocket fired toward Israel from Gaza over the past weekend.

Lieutenant General Gorenc was hosted by Brigadier General Doron Gavish, Commander of the Aerial Defense Formation, who also led the tour. At the battery, the Lieutenant General met with Lieutenant Colonel Gilad Biran, Commander of the “Iron Dome” Unit, and received explanations of how the system operates from Captain Elad Tzinamon, Commander of the Battery.