Pacific conference builds enlisted forces

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Chris Vadnais
  • Air Force News Agency
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii (AFPN) --  Officials from the 13th Air Force hosted a 17-nation conference here this week focusing on aviation safety and mishap prevention.

The 13th AF Pacific Rim Airpower Symposium, formerly the PACRIM Director of Operations Conference, brought together representatives from Australia, Bangladesh, Brunei, Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, South Korea, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the United States.

"From the partnerships formed here and furthered through participation in exercises and operations throughout the Asia-Pacific region, we can better promote regional priorities," said Lt. Gen. Loyd S. "Chip" Utterback, the 13th AF commander.

"We share a vested interest in employing combined air forces to overcome the tyranny of distance within the region to respond quickly and decisively to any crisis situation," the general said.

Admiral Timothy Keating, the commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, has urged his component commanders to look for opportunities to develop enlisted forces in the region's friendly nations. To answer that call, this year's conference added a noncommissioned officer's development course.

Representatives of the enlisted forces of Australia, Brunei, New Zealand, and Singapore met with Chief Master Sgt. Todd Salzman, the 13th Air Force command chief.

"What is really fascinating to all of us is that we are dealing with some of the same issues: Low budgets, low manning," said Chief Salzman. "We are finding that we're running into the same roadblocks."

The team was able to talk through some of these issues and share solutions to those problems, the chief said.

"Finding out that we're dealing with some of the same issues as it pertains to developing our Airmen--both technically and professionally--has been a gold mine for us," he said.

The overall focus of the symposium was aviation safety and mishap prevention, something all of the nations are concerned with. 13th Air Force officials say events like these lay the groundwork for combined exercises and other events in the theater.

"The PACRIM Airpower Symposium provides a great opportunity for us to interface with many of the nations we work with in peacetime and will want to work with during crises," said General Utterback.

"We are fully engaged and will continue to be engaged in the Pacific," the general said.
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