The training of the Spanish Navy's FGNE with the USAF's 82 ERQS in Djibouti

The exchange of knowledge between military units of allied countries is an important part of their training.

FGNE, the Green Berets of the Spanish Navy in action in the Indian Ocean
The images of the arrest of six pirates by the Spanish Navy in the Gulf of Aden

Last week, operators from the Special Naval Warfare Force (FGNE), the special operations unit of the Spanish Navy, conducted joint training with pararescuemen from the 82nd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron (82 ERQS) of the United States Air Force (USAF) at Camp Lemonnier (Djibouti), on the east coast of Africa, a country that is serving as a base for the European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) Operation Atalanta, a counter-piracy mission in the Horn of Africa.

The US Armed Forces' multimedia portal, DVIDShub.net, has published a series of photos of this training, which consisted of a tactical combat casualty care exercise conducted on February 19. This training was led by top-level instructors, as the USAF Pararescue Jumpers (PJs) are elite soldiers with extensive experience in combat search and rescue. Their work has saved the lives of many allied soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The 82 ERQS is a provisional unit deployed at Camp Lemonnier since 2007. Its members come from various USAF PC units, primarily the 31st Rescue Squadron (31st RQS), based at Kadena Air Base (Okinawa, Japan). The 82 ERQS's nickname is "Guardian Angel Squadron," which perfectly encapsulates its soldiers' mission: to risk their lives to save others.

In the images released by DVIDShub.net we can see that the Spanish operators of the FGNE were wearing patches of the II Estol "Almogávar", one of the six basic combat units that are part of that special operations force, specially trained for combat missions at sea, but also capable of carrying out operations on land and with air assets.

The FGNE has been deploying teams in Operation Atalanta for years. It is a mission in which the training of its operators is ideal for carrying out assaults on ships hijacked by pirates. In April 2025, we saw operators from the III Estol "Comanfes" training exercise in the Indian Ocean alongside operators from WARFLOT, the Special Warfare Flotilla of the Republic of Korea Navy. In May 2024, we saw operators from the V Estol "Íberos" participating in a pirate capture operation in the Gulf of Aden. The detainees had hijacked the merchant vessel MV Chrystal Arctic, flying the Marshall Islands flag.

In this training exercise, the operators from the FGNE and the PJs of the 82 ERQS exchanged knowledge on simulated casualty care. In the images released by the USAF, we can see the Spanish operators wearing FAST helmets.

The training also included a vertical evacuation exercise using a stretcher and ropes, a procedure especially useful for operations at sea.

According to information provided by the USAF, the training focused on tactical combat casualty care procedures, including massive hemorrhage, airway management, respiratory circulation, and hypothermia (MARCH). You can see more photos of this training here.

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Photos: U.S. Air Force / Staff Sgt. Christian Silvera.