Symposium helps build "network of friendship" among Asia-Pacific air forces

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Ken Hoffman
  • 13th Air Force Public Affairs
SINGAPORE --  Eighty representatives from 24 nations throughout the Asia-Pacific region met here to discuss the role of airpower in peace support operations July 21-24 during the Pacific Rim Airpower Symposium (PACRIM).

Co-hosted this year by the Republic of Singapore Air Force and the U.S. Air Force, the annual symposium encourages relationship building and enhances cooperation among the air forces of Asia-Pacific nations. Symposium briefings and discussions allowed representatives to discuss their air force's unique circumstances, capabilities and challenges.

"The real measure of success in this symposium will not be felt in the next six months or in the next year," said Lt. Gen. Hawk Carlisle, the 13th Air Force commander. "The real measure of success will be how we move the topics that we've talked about, how we take the knowledge that we've gained from one another and move forward and continue to improve our friendships and our relationships. We cannot wait until the next symposium to talk; we need to talk all the time."

Brig. Gen. Kwek Kok Kwong, Commander of the Singapore Air Force Air Defence and Operations Command, said each of the participants brought with them unique experiences and the symposium provided the opportunity to share their best practices in order to help each nation better prepare for future crises. During his closing remarks, he thanked the participants for their presentations and "thought-provoking" contributions during the dialogue and conversations over the last four days.

"The most important benefit that arises from this kind of a symposium is to build that network of friendship, which becomes very useful if we were to go into operations together," said General Kwek.

The PACRIM Senior Enlisted Leadership Conference, the largest air force multinational enlisted conference, was held in conjunction with the PACRIM Airpower Symposium.

"The objective of our Senior Enlisted Conference is to build relationships across our Pacific partner nations, to share ideas, to discuss those issues that affect our enlisted corps and to promote interoperability and I think we were pretty successful" said Chief Master Sgt. David Williamson, the 13th Air Force command chief master sergeant. "One of our biggest highlights in promoting the solidarity of our enlisted corps is the launching of our PACRIM SEL community of practice, which we hope will be a repository for information to assist people with training and the exchange of information."

Delegations from Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, the United States, and Vietnam participated in both events.

"I think we learned an immense amount from the other nations that were here with us," General Carlisle said. "At the end of the day, the symposium accomplished everything we had hoped for and more."

Officials from 13th Air Force at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and Singapore Air Force teamed up to plan and execute the 4-day event. Planning for the 2011 symposium is already underway and will focus on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations.