FleetEx 83 was a naval exercise that took place between March 29 and April 17 of 1983 in the northern Pacific Ocean near the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...

. Three carrier battle groups participated in the exercise, consisting of the carriers

Enterprise Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to: Business and economics Brands and enterprises * Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company * Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company * Enterpris ...

, Midway, and

Coral Sea The Coral Sea () is a marginal sea of the South Pacific off the northeast coast of Australia, and classified as an interim Australian bioregion. The Coral Sea extends down the Australian northeast coast. Most of it is protected by the Fre ...

and their respective escort ships. According to Admiral

Robert L. J. Long Robert Lyman John Long (May 29, 1920 – June 27, 2002) was a four-star admiral in the United States Navy who served as Vice Chief of Naval Operations from 1977 to 1979 and Commander in Chief Pacific from 1979 to 1983.The Reminiscences of Admiral ...

, Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Forces in the Pacific, FleetEx 83 comprised “the largest fleet exercise conducted by the Pacific Fleet since

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

.”Command History Division Office of the Joint Secretary, Commander in Chief U.S. Pacific Command History (Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, 1984), 396. The combined task force consisted of approximately forty ships, 23,000 crew members, and 300 aircraft.R. W. Johnson, Shoot-down: Flight 007 and the American Connection (New York: Viking, 1986), 55. The exercise lasted approximately two weeks and was conducted in the Northern Pacific, within flight range of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

coast. The purpose of the mission was to intentionally provoke the Soviet Union into responding so that the US forces could study their response, tactics, and capabilities as well as demonstrate the effective operations of a three-carrier battle force in joint and combined operations across multiple service branches in both the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, in a high-threat environment. The exercises were extremely successful and effective in integrating the combined forces of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

Coast Guard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...

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, Canadian

Maritime Command Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM) is the central command of all NATO maritime forces and the Commander MARCOM is the prime maritime advisor to the Alliance. When directed by the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), it provides the core of th ...

and Australian naval forces into an effective battleworthy whole. Despite poor weather, the fleet excelled throughout the exercise.

References

{{Commons category, FLEETEX 83 1983 in military history Military exercises involving the United States Canadian military exercises Naval exercises