Sailors from Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit (EODMU) 8 began participating in exercise Northern Challenge (NOCH) 2016 in Keflavik, Iceland, Sept. 12.

The exercise aims to improve coordination and interoperability with NATO allies and partners in EOD operations.

"We're excited to be part of this important operation and work side-by-side with our NATO allies and partners exercising dynamic underwater mine countermeasures and counter-IED (improvised explosive device) response capabilities," said Cmdr. Gareth Healy, commanding officer, EODMU 8. "These types of operations demonstrate skills and techniques in a deployed environment, while building interoperability with other explosive ordnance disposal units so that we can work more closely together in the future. I am eager to see how well our operators and partner forces perform in this challenging environment."

NOCH 16 is an Iceland-hosted multinational EOD counter-IED exercise in which participants share military tactics, techniques, and procedures in order to achieve greater interoperability when conducting combined peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, or when countering global or regional threats to maritime security.

This year, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Great Britain, Austria, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Canada, Belgium, and the United States are scheduled to participate.

U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint and interagency partners in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.

For more information, visit http://www.navy.mil, http://www.facebook.com/usnavy, or http://www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Commander, U.S. Naval Forces Europe and Africa/U.S. 6th Fleet, visit http://www.navy.mil/.