by Master Sgt. Brian M. Boisvert
AFAFRICA APF Mauritania
9/5/2014 - ATAR, Mauritania -- A
large crowd of dignitaries and 55 Airmen from six African nations as
well as 17 U.S. Air Force Airmen assigned to either U.S. Air Forces in
Europe and U.S. Air Forces Africa or Air Mobility Command took part in
the African Partnership Flight Mauritania graduation ceremony Sept. 4,
2014, at Atar Airbase.
The week-long training event brought Airmen from the U.S., Mauritania,
Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Tunisia together in a joint
learning environment.
"This special military event of supporting defense operations is
establishing new era of cooperation between our countries," said Col.
Mohammad Lehreitani, Mauritania Air Force chief in command. "This has
entitled a renewing of the highest values of peace, security and
developmental ideals in the world at large and the Sahel region in
particular."
"Mauritania is an important American ally who shares a common vision of a
safe, stable and prosperous Africa," said Martha Patterson, Charge
d'Affaires, U.S. Embassy in Mauritania. "Mauritania's partnering with us
to sponsor such an event demonstrates Mauritania's commitment to that
vision."
The vision Patterson referred to is the APF vision of being the premier
program for delivering aviation security cooperation to African
partners. Its mission is to provide the capability for African nations
to conduct multi-lateral, military-to-military engagement and security
assistance with African air forces in order to build aviation capacity,
enhance regional cooperation and increase interoperability.
Following classes, students were given the opportunity to express what
they really liked about the course and how it could be improved.
"I really appreciate this training," said a Mauritanian airman in a
survey. "I would like to see all of the participating countries doing
future military maneuvers together for more experience."
A Nigerian student stated, "I am really happy to participate in this
event because I learned a lot. I learned new methods and new information
the will be very important to the air mission in Niger."
On the first day of class, U.S. Air Force Maj. Hartmut Casson, APF
Mauritania mission commander said to the students, "It is our hope that
the lessons and friendships we make today will endure for years to
come."
That comment was echoed over and over again in the critiques the students gave.
"The most important thing was exchanging experiences and expertise
between the members of the participating countries," said a student from
Tunisia. "The presentations were highly useful and important for
planning and programming air operations."
During comments made to Patterson, Casson said, "I had high expectations
of the Mauritanians as a co-host of this event and they blew me away
with the help and support that the Mauritanian Air Force was able to
offer. I was worried that the students would not open up very much to
the instructors and to the other students, but they have by far
surpassed anything I was hoping for."
The primary objective of this APF was for African partners possess
greater aviation capacity and the ability to provide mutual support in
air operations.
"I would like to seize this occasion to thank U.S.A. for providing all
kinds of continued support strengthening our countries cooperation,"
said Lehreitani. "This training workshop was an opportunity to exchange
information, expertise and consolidate partnership between our
countries."
Friday, September 05, 2014
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment