FMS community gathers at Robins

by Jenny Gordon
78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

9/20/2013 - ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga.  -- The Foreign Military Sales community came together during an FMS All Call here Sep. 11, and was attended by nearly 400 FMS personnel.

Nancy Donnelly Ivy, Air Force Security Assistance and Cooperation Policy Division chief, and Kevin Pendergast, AFSAC Financial Management Division deputy chief from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, also attended.

AFSAC's former satellite office at Robins -- now the Mission Support Office -- includes a team of 11 people who focus on foreign military sales efforts, Foreign Disclosure of Data and Information, and Foreign Liaison Officer support responsibilities.

"By any measure, the 2013 FMS All Call held at Robins was a successful event," said Carolyn Middleton, MSO chief. "It provided a venue for Air Force FMS enterprise personnel, foreign or U.S. government, without regard for program or weapon system, to come together under one roof for the purpose of exchanging information, addressing common issues and discussing the significance of relationship building with our foreign partner nations."

The All Call included discussion on training opportunities, updates, state of the FMS enterprise and the FMS customer perspective.

Robins' FLO office includes representatives from six countries, including Canada, Australia, Israel, Japan, the Republic of Korea and Saudi Arabia. FLOs assist with supply requisitions and problem solving, financial investigations and reviews, repair processes and weapon system management on behalf of their country.

For example, Maj. Martine Du'Mont, an engineer by trade and Canada's FLO at Robins, facilitates direct, on-site contact between Robins and Canada in support of C-130H Hercules work.

"While technology is wonderful, there's nothing like face-to-face interaction," said Du'Mont, a 26- year veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force. "For example, if we have problems finding parts or repair schemes we've never had to implement, the program office in Canada will come to me, and I in turn will go through my network at Robins to discuss.

"For us it's extremely important, as we're a small Air Force," she added. "We work under budget constraints as well, so it's nice to have an additional resource we can tap into for support. This particular FMS program has saved us from having to put aircraft on the ground for a long time. It gives us a boost in our operational capabilities."

Robins is fortunate to have FMS interactions with more than 80 foreign partner nations. For example, the C-17 Combined Program Office here works with representatives from Qatar, Great Britain, Saudi Arabia and Strategic Airlift Capability, a consortium of NATO countries who work together to acquire, manage and support C-17s.

These types of relationships are only expected to grow in the future.