Pacific Agility concludes at Andersen AFB

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Arielle Vasquez
  • Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs
After spending a week sharing logistics and maintenance techniques, military members from nine nations concluded the Pacific Agility 16-1 subject-matter expert exchange March 17, 2016, at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam.

The program is a Pacific Air Forces engagement designed to establish integrated logistics cooperation with selected Indo-Asia-Pacific nations, while concurrently promoting regional stability and military relations.

“There have been other security cooperation efforts prior to this engagement; however this is the first time we have had multiple nations come here for Pacific Agility,” said Capt. Larry Ingersoll, 36th Contingency Response Group deputy director of partnerships. “We’ve built on relationships that we’ve already established with a lot of our partner nations. These relationships between nations start with connections between people and that’s exactly what we found this week, which contributes to stability. It’s been a phenomenal exchange of information and ideas.”

Fourteen representatives from eight countries participated in the exchange to include the Royal Australian Air Force, Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, Mongolian Air Force and Bangladesh Air Force.

Throughout the week, the partners conducted briefings and visited facilities on Andersen AFB to expand their knowledge on cargo pallet build-ups, humanitarian assistance/disaster response capabilities, air transport ability, munitions storage and supply chain management.

Pacific Agility 16-1 provided an opportunity for multinational participants to play a role in the exchange, each presenting their own capabilities to the other participants.

“The Bangladesh Air Force is very small, however the procedures we maintain is similar to the U.S. Air Force," said Wing Cdr. Abdul Barek, officer with the Bangladesh Air Force. “Something I learned was how to maintain and transport equipment, while sharing how we operate with other partner nations. When we gradually extend our views and exchange ideas, we gain additional knowledge allowing us to take that information back to our country for a more efficient and successful Air Force.”

The exchange increases understanding of how partner nations’ militaries work and the capabilities they offer, Ingersoll said. This allows for a constructive experience that will be beneficial not only for engagements in peacetime, but also for operations during contingencies.

Concluding the subject-matter exchange with feedback surveys, the representatives said they left Andersen AFB with additional knowledge of logistics-related subjects. The past week provided many experiences and learning opportunities, which allowed Airmen from other countries to build relationships and gain insight on how operations are carried out among the other partners.

“I feel like the partner nations we have are definitely matching our commitment to doing these engagements and that’s manifested in how well they prepare and send the right people with the right expertise at the right level,” Ingersoll said. “It’s a phenomenal commitment to see and very encouraging for us going forward.”

Pacific Agility 16-1, which marked the first multinational exchange carried out of this kind, has developed multilateral partnerships, contributed to regional security and stability and established integrated logistics cooperation with countries in the Pacific theater. The goal is to continue planning and coordinating with Indo-Asia-Pacific partners in preparation for future events.

“What I took away from this exchange is that our militaries face a lot of the same challenges and we have a lot more in common than we do differences,” Ingersoll said. “By understanding how each of us overcome those challenges we’re all better prepared in the future when we face them, which is why it’s better to work as one team.”