SwiftResponse

SWIFT RESPONSE

Swift Response 25 demonstrates multinational power projection and the expansion of critical capabilities on the battlefield in the High North and Baltics through airborne jumps and integration of technology in support of the Army Modernization Strategy and DoD Arctic Strategy. Swift Response 25 involves five near-simultaneous airborne insertions, HIRAIN training, a field hospital exercise and live fires conducted with NATO networks in Norway, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden and Finland from May 11 – 31, 2025.

Videos

Video by Michel Sauret

B-Roll: Pittsburgh District completes first demolition on historic Monongahela River dam

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District

July 11, 2024 | 1:13

B-Roll footage of first demolition from multiple camera angles.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District performs a controlled explosion to breach the fixed-crest dam at the Monongahela River Locks and Dam 3 near Elizabeth, Pennsylvania, July 10, 2024.

Removing the dam will create a continuous pool of riverway stretching 30 miles from Charleroi to Braddock, Pennsylvania, improving navigation on the Lower Monongahela River.

The dam’s removal work will continue through December. Until the Corps removes the entire dam and verifies the navigation channel is safe, all traffic must pass through the landside lock. After the initial demolition, contractors will perform additional demolitions once per week, requiring the locks to close for three hours or less.

The demolition will require 13 more controlled explosions, taking down the rest of the dam in 50-foot sections. The contractor will use excavators on barges to remove the rubble from the river.

After the dam is removed and the riverway is cleared, waterway users can navigate through the area without using the lock chambers. The river is anticipated to reopen by the end of 2024.

The Pittsburgh District will then move onto the next phase of removing the lock walls in 2025, with work expected to last until 2027.

The demolition is part of the Lower Monongahela River Project. Once complete, the project is expected to bring an economic benefit of $200 million annually, including cost-time savings in transporting commodities through the region using inland navigation and reduced maintenance costs.

The Monongahela River Locks and Dam 3 has been operating since 1907, but the facility is prone to flooding and shuts down operations during high-water events, resulting in navigation delays.

The U.S. Coast Guard supported by establishing a restriction zone 1,500 feet up and downstream of the dam.

(U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District photo by Michel Sauret / Stacey Wyzykowski / Ian Mckelvey)

Italy
Paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade will depart from Italy to conduct an airborne drop into Lithuania.
Finland
The Finnish Army will conduct a live fire exercise with the Polish Armed Forces and U.S. Forces will fire HIMARS also known as HIRAIN training.

Polish paratroopers will conduct an airborne jump into Finland, where they will join the Finnish Army to conduct force on force training.
Latvia

In Latvia, paratroopers from Spanish Airborne Brigade and 173rd Airborne Brigade will conduct an airborne jump into Latvia and a live-fire exercises will follow .

Also, the Latvian national exercise, Crystal Arrow, will be conducted simultaneously with Swift Response 25.
Lithuania

In Lithuania, there will be a Field hospital exercise and medical operations. A U.S.-based blood support detachment will deploy to Europe, where they will be issued Army Prepositioned Stock and join the 512th Field Hospital in Lithuania. The exercise will demonstrate theater medical support operations while working under chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear conditions. The field hospital exercise will also include a simulated blood draw and resupply to forward positioned medical teams using drones.

Paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade will conduct an airborne assault into Lithuania alongside NATO Allies from France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

The Lithuanian national exercise Iron Wolf will be linked with Swift Response 25 events with participants from the Netherlands, Lithuania and Germany.
Norway
As part of Swift Response 25, paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division will deploy from the U.S. and conduct
a direct airborne jump into Norway in the first major event commencing DEFENDER 25. This event is one of five,
near-simultaneous airborne operations that will be taking place in Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.

Also U.S. and Host Nation will conduct Live-fires in Norway.
Slovenia
Slovenia is providing a strategic aerial port of disembarkation (APODs) in Cerklje Air Base.
Sweden

NATO Allies will conduct an airborne jump into Gotland Island, setting the stage for U.S. Marines to conduct a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System Rapid Insertion (HIRAIN) training on the island.
United Kingdom
Troops moving from United Kingdom to Norway and Sweden.

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