The US military is shifting towards a “more global” exercise program in preparation to deter what they term a “more assertive Russia” as well as countering other complex threats, a senior officer commanding the US forces in Europe has said. “What we’re eventually going toward is a globally integrated exercise program so that we (are)… all working off the same sheet of music in one combined global exercise,” Air Force Brigadier General John Healy, who directs the drills of

US forces in Europe told Reuters. Healy said troops need to be prepared for increasingly complex threats across all domains of war – land, sea, air, space and cyber sphere. The general went on to say the training must include rehearsing possible conflicts and take into account the global nature of the military threats facing the US. The goal of the Pentagon is to hold exercises that would involve troops from all nine US unified combatant commands instead of being limited to a specific region or a military branch, he said. Such drills could be staged as early as 2020, he added. CONTINUE