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Air Forces of 25 nations to visit Sri Lanka for Pacific Airlift Rally

Lankan Ranger

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Air Forces of 25 nations to visit Sri Lanka - Pacific Airlift Rally

The Air Forces of 25 nations, including those of the US, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Australia, will test their disaster relief and humanitarian capabilities at the Pacific Airlift Rally 2011 which is to be held at the Ratmalana Air Force base from August 22-26.

Over 200 foreign airmen will participate in this comprehensive military airlift symposium co-hosted by the US and Sri Lanka. Exercise related events include seminars, expert briefings, command post exercise that addresses military airlift support required during natural disasters.

Seven C-130 aircraft, with three from the US, one each from Sri Lanka Air Force, Royal Malaysian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and Bangladesh Air Force will participare in the exercise.

Air Force Commander Air Marshall Harsha Abeywickrema at a press briefing at the Air Force Headquarters yesterday said that the US has decided to hold this training mission in Sri Lanka considering the peaceful environment in the country.

This training is a biennial mission that aimed at strengthening the interoperability between nations in the Indonesian and Pacific region, he said.

Over 300 foreign and local officers will participate in field training exercise.

The command post exercise which include seminars will be held at Mount Lavinia Hotel.

Air Forces of Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, Vietnam will also participate in this training.

Improving cross training mutual exchange of expertise, updating existing procedures of air delivery, assessing functional suitability of various equipment, and suggesting improvements and ascertaining the requirements of various equipment that may be useful for future exercise of this nature are the semi objectives of this event.

Sri Lanka News | Online edition of Daily News - Lakehouse Newspapers
 
36th AS takes to the skies during Pacific Airlift Rally

Seventy-eight members from the 36th Airlift Squadron at Yokota will test their humanitarian-assistance and disaster-relief abilities in the Pacific Airlift Rally held in Sri Lanka, Aug. 18-22.

The Pacific Airlift Rally strengthens interoperability between nations in the Indonesian and Pacific region. It is held every two years and is sponsored by Pacific Air Forces.

"This exercise will help enable the nations involved to deepen their relationships with one another, build trust and strengthen their desire to mutually support one another," said Capt. Anthony Felix, 36th AS assistant pilot flight commander. "Our involvement with the exercise will inspire trust with all nations that are located in the Pacific region."

The five-day training exercise brings together the air forces of 25 nations including the U.S., Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Australia to demonstrate humanitarian assistance capabilities through two different components.

"The Airmen from Yokota that are participating have a lot of experience going in," said Capt. Bryan Huffman, 36 AS Pacific Airlift Rally mission commander for Yokota. "This training exercise will help improve Yokota's readiness by having us fly airdrop and airlift missions in different scenarios."

The first component of the air rally involves flying exercises, testing the abilities of pilots and crews to perform tasks normally executed in humanitarian relief efforts.

The second part of the rally involves command post operations in which operators and logisticians from several participating countries train on performing the correct actions in the event of a ground-based scenario.

For Captain Huffman, preparing Yokota to respond to mother nature's mood swings is what the Pacific Airlift Rally is all about.

"It's a great opportunity to have a hand in improving Yokota's readiness and ability to provide humanitarian assistance or disaster relief if needed," he said.

36th AS takes to the skies during Pacific Airlift Rally
 
Sri Lanka Air force - C-130 Aircraft

C130K_SCH3401.jpg
 

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