Air Forces Africa connects with African Air Attaches

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Jim Fisher
  • Seventeenth Air Force Public Affairs
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany --  Face-to-face and in-depth, Airmen at 17th Air Force got the lowdown on building partnerships in Africa from the people who have the "boots on the ground" perspective - air attaches. A collection of attaches, Air Force officers who live and work in Embassies around the continent, visited Ramstein Feb. 23-28 for the semi-annual Africa U.S. Air Attaché Conference. 

The conference, conducted by the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force for International Affairs, included a new dimension this year with the participation of 17th Air Force, also called Air Forces Africa as the air component under U.S. Africa Command. Participants from AFAFRICA were very glad to have the opportunity to exchange valuable information with the attaches, according to 17th AF Director of Plans Col. Don Kochanski. 

"The information we received, along with the perspectives of each of the attaches, was really invaluable," Colonel Kochanski said. "They are the experts when it comes to engagement, because this is their primary job on a day-to-day basis. No one is more familiar with the situation in each of these countries and regions than they are, so it was very beneficial for us to take part." 

In addition to discussions on AFAFRICA programs and international affairs-related topics, attaches provided in-depth briefings on their countries and received information on professional development and personnel issues. 

As AFAFRICA engages with African partners to promote air domain safety and security, air and defense attaches are often primary resources for information and coordination. For SAF/IA, they are an extension of the office's policy and programs around the world, according to Richard Genaille, Director of Policy for the Office of the Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force for International Affairs. SAF/IA selects, recruits, nominates and trains Air Force officers to become air attaches. Once in the field, the office is focused on supporting them. 

"Each attaché is an officially accredited diplomat in the country they are assigned to, and as such, they are responsible for building relationships," Mr. Genaille said. "At these conferences, we bring them up to speed on what's happening in the Air Force and what's going on in terms of international affairs. This is all intended to support them and help them to be great attaches." 

Mr. Genaille said that status updates on security assistance programs and developing core functions like building capacity provide the attaches with the tools they need to be successful. Capacity building is also a primary objective of AFAFRICA, which ultimately strives to improve partner nations' abilities to meet the challenges facing them. 

"We are here to help Africans meet African challenges," Colonel Kochanski said. "One of the keys to making our programs effective on the continent is to know more precisely how we can help a particular country in terms of sharing our expertise and resources. Who better to ask than the people who are working continually with partner nation air forces?" 

Nigeria Air Attaché Lt. Col. Gia Cromer said valuable information flowed both ways during the conference. 

"These conferences help us to build relationships with 17th AF and SAF/IA, and probably most importantly, the regional desk officers that we work with from both organizations," Colonel Cromer said. "It helped to abbreviate some emails later on. It's refreshing to provide your personal perspective as to what's going on in the country - things you can't get across in email. It's always good to have face-to-face dialogue, and it provides as much valuable information for them as it does for us." 

Colonel Cromer added that she would advocate for such conferences to continue in the future. 

"For many of the participants, especially senior officers, they can't afford to take three days out of their schedule to see and learn about just one African country. During the conference, they received briefings about all of them in four days," she said. 

For the people charged with engagement--AFAFRICA, SAF/IA and the attaches themselves--the conference was about building and strengthening relationships, both on the continent and between one another.