The U.S. military and the Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday, November 13 concluded Austere Challenge 2012, the largest joint exercise ever held by the two countries, JTA reported. The exercise ended following a two-day, live-fire exercise that was deemed a success by military observers from the U.S. European Command and the IDF. The three-week exercise, which began last month and involved more than 2,500 American service personnel and 1,000 Israeli soldiers, was designed to improve interoperability between the U.S. and Israeli militaries and was conducted as part of a long-standing strategic agreement to hold bilateral training exercises on a regular basis. “We made great strides in improving our tactics and our command and control processes,” U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Craig Franklin, the commander of Joint Defense Forces-Israel during Austere Challenge 2012, said. “Most importantly, though, we reinforced our already strong U.S.-IDF relationships.”