Officers visit Kuwait college, brief students

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Angelique N. Smythe
  • U.S. Air Forces Central Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFNS) --  Four officers visited Kuwait's Mubarak Al Abdullah Joint Command and Staff College to lecture to 92 students from 19 countries within the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf on various joint military topics.

The school is similar to the Air Force's Air Command and Staff College and prepares field grade officers to lead at the operational level of warfare. It is run by English officers in partnership with Kuwaiti officials.

In December 2010, Kuwait's director of military cooperation requested that U.S. Air Forces Central officials provide subject-matter experts to brief students on current and emerging ideas from the air operations component.

AFCENT officials sent Col. Dirk Smith, the 609th Air Operations Center Commander; Lt. Col. Chad Riden, the AFCENT director of space forces space control; Maj. Joseph Deporter, the 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Operations Squadron commander; and Capt. Casey Meyer, the Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Division production chief.

The team spent two days briefing, developing relationships and enlightening students on various subjects. Each briefing lasted 30 to 45 minutes, with 30 minutes allotted for questions and answers.

Captain Meyer, who spoke about remotely piloted aircraft, discussed RPAs of all shapes and sizes and the increase of flexibility as capabilities are enhanced.

"We discussed why RPAs are in such high demand, the kind of intelligence they provide, and how they are utilized in counterinsurgency warfare," he said. "We spoke of lessons learned over the past 10 years, how the AOC commands and controls RPAs, and the planning needed to use these assets effectively."

As many countries are only just recently developing RPA capabilities, the students were very engaged in his presentation and asked several great questions, he said.

Colonel Riden provided a briefing on capabilities and services that are provided from space.

He enlightened the students on systems, satellites and the products or services those assets provide for use in people's daily lives as well as for military use.

"It was a 'space 101' brief," he said. "For example, everyone wants to know about GPS, which provides military forces with positioning and timing information. But few realize GPS enables a myriad of other functions. (Automated teller machines), for instance, require GPS to (synchronize) information. If we didn't have GPS, our ATMs wouldn't work."

Colonel Riden said the information seemed to be well-received by the students.

"Their questions were insightful, and afterwards, they shook our hands and thanked us for coming," he said. "The trip was intended to show our willingness to partner with other nations and our cooperative attitude, and I think our goal was achieved."

For his part, Major Deporter explained how the Air Force sustains air operations.

He covered the personnel and logistics processes needed to support the combatant commander.

"I walked 92 students through how the Air Force, in no small way, deploys and sustains air operations through the distinctive capability of the agile combat support," he said. "Ultimately, we are tasked with generating and regenerating aircraft in support of the air tasking order, a continuous cycle that happens continuously each and every day."

He educated them on the processes required to answer the call of the combatant commander, from readiness to employment and recovery of the force.

The example he used was that of taking a squadron of F-15C (Eagle) pilots, maintainers and support personnel, relocating them to their deployed location, generating combat power for the combatant commander and then redeploying them back to home station.

"I also spoke about supply reach back, which includes all the supplies associated with maintaining and sustaining aircraft," he said. "The maintainers couldn't generate aircraft without parts to fix them."

When a student asked what the biggest challenge was, Major Deporter said it was balancing the high deployment rates with continuous skills training.

"It is a continuous challenge to ensure that, through all the deployments, we continue to care for our most valuable asset: our human resources," he said. "Our people have to be maintained as well."

Colonel Smith concluded the session with a briefing about the Air Operations Center, the operational level command and control node for the theater.

He emphasized the importance of leaders moving on to the next level, and to resist the urge to return to the tactical level, where they will feel most comfortable.

"As a fighter pilot, I know a lot about flying, but in this job I have to look at the bigger picture," he said. "The primary role of the AOC is to be the conductor of all the tactical assets, and not necessarily to get into the details of what occurs within each wing."

"My overriding theme was teamwork, communication and mutual support -- helping each other out," he said. "At the operational level, it's very important that we appreciate all the perspectives of the different players in the coalition and realize that your way is not always the right way. It's very important to listen and take into account the unique capabilities of all coalition members."