Pacific Agility builds partership through subject matter expert exchange

by Staff Sgt. Joshua Turner
354th Fighter Wing

5/5/2015 - JAKARTA, Indonesia -- The Indonesian air force hosted a Pacific Agility international subject-matter expert exchange April 20 through 24 to help build partnerships across the Pacific region and promote interoperability.

The five-day event included Indonesian air force and U.S. Air Force service members from several different F-16 aircraft maintenance career fields.

Pacific Agility is a bilateral humanitarian assistance civil military operation that builds partner capacity through medical and health outreach, engineering civic projects and subject matter exchanges. This event is intended to build strong personal relationships and foster the exchange of information on how F-16 maintenance operations are conducted within the USAF and the IAF.

"We exchange information on how we [perform] F-16 maintenance operations within each of our respective air forces," said USAF Capt. Bryn Sowa, Pacific Air Forces directorate of logistics, engineering and force protection. "This engagement is very special -- it marks the first time we've ever had an engagement with Indonesia in this aspect, under the umbrella of Pacific Agility."

During the exchange, attendees spent the week side-by-side, sharing F-16 maintenance experiences and creating strong relationships through friendly conversation.

"The thing that makes this event the most meaningful is the relationships we've built with our Indonesian counterparts," Sowa said. "The conversations we've had focused not only on F-16 maintenance but talk about their families, their hobbies and getting to learn about their culture. I've learned so much and built some really strong relationships in a matter of days."

"The exchange was very useful," said IAF Maj. Andy Sukmawan, 16th Squadron Roesmin Nurjadin Air Base. "We hope it can be followed by another."

Multiple events such as Pacific Agility occur yearly throughout the year. Pacific Air Forces continues to plan and coordinate with Asia-Pacific partners and will release information as planning is finalized and operations are scheduled.