Marine Attack Squadron 542 (VMA-542) is a United States Marine Corps fixed wing attack squadron that consists of AV-8B Harrier (V/STOL) jets. The squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina and falls under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 14 (MAG-14) and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing (2nd MAW).
Description
Almost precisely a year after the NATO bombing campaign to end atrocities in the Kosovo region, Dynamic Response 2000 unfolded in Kosovo March 19 - April 10. The NATO-led Strategic Reserve Force (SRF) command field exercise demonstrated NATO's and the international community's resolve and commitment to maintain a secure environment in the Balkans region, which includes Kosovo and Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH.) Five nations with approximately 1,5000 troops and 220 vehicles participated in the exercise, validating operational concepts outside a specific crisis situation. Three were NATO countries: The Netherlands, Poland, and the United States. One, Romania, is a Partnership for Peace nation, and the other, Argentina, who is seeking a professional and technical relationship with NATO, was also involved.
Units included the 1st Battalion of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps, the 10th Polish Mechanised Infantry battalion, a platoon from the Argentinean Paratrooper Brigade, elements of the Romanian 26th Infantry Battalion, and the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit from the United States of America. The forces primarily operated in Multinational Brigades Central and East after the initial deployment in the Prizren area.
The four phases of the exercise included preparation, deployment, employment within theatre, and re-deployment. The participants, who represented a small fraction of the total number of troops envisioned for the SRF, demonstrated rapid deployment capabilities, interoperability, command and control co-ordination, and combat tactics, and high operational readiness during the 23-day affair.
COMSFOR, Lt. Gen. (US) Ron Adams summed up the importance of this exercise to SFOR in a Feb. 9 interview. "As long as SFOR is here, there won't be any war," said Adams. "I mean, we can guarantee that because everyone says you're getting smaller. So what? As long as there is one NATO soldier here, we have the power of all NATO right behind us. And, believe me, they could be here just like that. Their aeroplanes come in here and out of this country all the time. Fighter aeroplanes can come in - air power can come in very easily. And just twice since I've been here, we've brought troops in from outside Bosnia and Hercegovina - NATO troops to exercise and to operate. So war is not an option. Not while we're here."
