MALEME, Greece — Vacationers taking a morning dip or seeking shade on wooden sunbeds on the Greek island of Crete got a close-up view of a major military exercise unfolding in front of them Friday.
The annual Medusa exercise, led by Greece and Egypt , ended on a strip of coastline outside the port city of Chania. It featured drone attacks and fast-boat landings with marines and special forces operators using simulated fire. “I just saw that it was some kind of military exercise, but I must admit I didn’t expect it to be the scale that it’s been. “I was very impressed, very. You’d pay thousands to watch this, wouldn’t you? Greek military police set up a cordon during the hourlong drills Friday to keep bathers from getting too close as Greek and Egyptian service members ran through colored smoke and onto the beach, while jets and helicopters swooped overhead. France, Italy and Cyprus joined exercises that began Sept.
10 and ran through Friday as countries around the Mediterranean seek to expand their military cooperation.
We were just like: wow,” Carr said.
