JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- “I arrived with an open mind … little did I know that the bonds formed here will extend well beyond the classroom.”
These were the words of Singapore Air Force Military Expert 2 S. Samraj, 138th Squadron imagery analyst, upon graduation from the Inter-Pacific Junior Enlisted Leader Forum (IPJELF) hosted by the Inter-Pacific Air Forces Academy (IPAFA), May 19, 2025.
The academy aims to equip non-commissioned officers with the leadership skills and problem-solving methods needed to succeed in multinational operational environments. The IPJELF forum was developed to focus training on the challenges faced at different points of a military career after observing interactions from previous iterations that mixed junior and senior enlisted leaders together.
“Experiences differ as you rank up,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Sherree Cole, Inter-Pacific Air Forces Academy operations superintendent. “Realizing and combating that, [it was] decided to generate two courses that would allow junior and senior enlisted leaders to share their perspectives across the board in separate forums.”
This forum combines the international cohort of students from the U.S., Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom to develop solutions to interoperability scenarios using provided instruction and sharing with each other how different air forces and cultures operate.
“The Air Force’s goal is to be more agile, capable and deployable,” Cole said. “So how can we do that without bridging the gap, sharing experiences across nations, and the connections with our peers in the Pacific region?”
Shared experiences between Airmen can form bonds that make international partnerships stronger, as the IPJELF participants return to their respective units armed with new connections and experiences to help the success of future partnered missions.
The academy is one of many resources and opportunities used by the USAF to continually strengthen the capabilities of the most effective deterrence against hostilities in the Indo-Pacific: the relationship with our allies and partners.