An interesting video about the Stinga Detachment at Keflavík Air Base
On July 21, we saw here the details of the first Spanish military deployment in Iceland, carried out by the Air Force.
Spain’s first military deployment in Iceland with six EF-18 fighters on an IAP mission
The defense units of Iceland, the only NATO country without a standing army
This deployment is made up of six EF-18M fighters from the 15th Wing, a unit from the Air Combat Command (MACOM) based in Zaragoza, and 122 airmen from 11 units of the Spanish Air Force. Together they make this NATO Icelandic Air Policing (IAP) mission possible, an operation that is due to the fact that Iceland lacks its own armed forces. The Spanish deployment is carried out within the framework of the Stinga Detachment at Keflavík Air Base, approximately 32 km west of Reykjavik.
A few days ago, the Air Force published an interesting video about this deployment, presented by Captain Manuel Ángel Cuenca López and featuring the personnel involved. It’s a very entertaining video in which each of the people interviewed explains their role in this mission in a simple and easily understandable way, even for those without much aeronautical knowledge. I particularly liked the video because it shows us the most important and valuable aspect of the Spanish Air Force: its people (the video is in Spanish but has an English audio track, which you can activate in the bottom bar of the player):
You can see some screenshots of this interesting video here, along with some notes.
Two EF-18Ms from the 15th Wing at Keflavík Air Base. This base was founded in 1951 by the United States Air Force (USAF), which used it until 2006. Next to the Spanish fighters we can see two of the thirteen bomb-proof hangars in the western part of this base, located next to the Keflavík civil airport, with which it shares its runways.
A Dacia Duster hybrid vehicle used by the Air Deployment Support Squadron (EADA) for patrol duties in its mission to monitor this base. The vehicle has an Icelandic license plate, indicating that it was rented there.
Medical personnel from the Deployment Support Air Medical Unit (UMAAD-Madrid) next to one of the three Airbus Helicopters H225 helicopters operated by the Icelandic Coast Guard.
One of the Spanish fighters using its arrestor hook at Keflavík Air Base, which is equipped with an arrestor wire that allows for shorter landings. The EF-18 is the Spanish version of the F/A-18 Hornet naval fighter, which uses its arrestor hook to land on the flight decks of large U.S. Navy aircraft carriers.
A member of the Stinga Detachment ground crew next to an EF-18M. The work these personnel do is vital. Thanks to them, the fighters remain operational.