USCENTAF affirms commitment to cooperation with Royal Jordanian Air Force

Courtesy Photo | Lt. Gen. Gary North, U.S. Central Command Air Forces, meets Royal Jordanian Air Force base officers and leadership at Maffraq Salti Air Base, Jordan. General North was the senior U.S. Air Force representative at the closing ceremony of Falcon Air Meet '07.  

06.01.2007

Courtesy Story

United States Air Forces Central           

By Maj. Mark Visconi, U.S. Central Command Air Forces

Prior to attending the closing ceremony for the annual Falcon Air Meet at Maffraq Salti Air Base in Azraq, Jordan, Lt. Gen. Gary North, Commander, U.S. Central Command Air Forces, was hosted by senior leaders and partners of the Royal Jordanian Air Force, including His Royal Highness (Lt. Gen.) Prince Feisal bin Hussein, Special Assistant to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, for Air Operations and Technology.

Along with Maj. Gen Hussein Shodash, Commander, Royal Jordanian Air Force, or RJAF. The leaders consulted on key issues affecting regional security and stability and discussed future opportunities for cooperation and multilateral training between the United States and Royal Jordanian Air Forces and other regional allies and partners.

General North expressed his sincere gratitude to HRH Prince Feisal and General Shodash for their strategic vision and critical leadership in the region.

"Jordan is clearly one of our most crucial allies," said General North. "Our strong partnership with the Royal Jordanian Air Force is essential to that relationship."

While meeting with General Shodash at RJAF headquarters in Amman, General North reaffirmed
USCENTAF's commitment to cooperation. Both leaders explored opportunities and promoted ideas that would continue to advance the already solid bilateral relationship while at the same time increasing multilateral collaboration in the future.

In both public and private forums, HRH Prince Feisal bin Hussein and General North discussed the status of key RJAF milestones and objectives while HRH Prince Feisal further elaborated on the strategic and operational visions for the RJAF.

The Falcon Air Meet '07 had four operations and maintenance teams from the RJAF, USAF, Turkish and Belgian Air Forces that competed in a variety of roles, and were graded in several categories including air intercepts, air-to-ground operations, weapons loading, and sortie generation.
Capturing the importance of this multi-national competition, General North said, "Falcon Air Meet is one of the absolute cornerstones to multilateral engagement in the region."

This year, the overall winner of the meet was the team from the Turkish Air Force, while the Royal Jordanian Air Force squad followed closely in second.

The RJAF scored victories in both the air-to-ground operations and air intercept categories. Underscoring some of the key objectives of this international airpower competition, General North emphasized the cooperative spirit of the air meet and thanked the RJAF for its leadership in improving coalition interoperability and flying operations.

"While everyone likes the spirit of the competition, the most important thing is the camaraderie and friendship among Airmen that we develop here, which fosters the interoperability needed among Airmen," said General North. "The key relationships, which we establish and develop during events like Falcon Air Meet, cement the bonds of trust and professionalism that are the bedrock of peacetime cooperation and, if necessary, future coalition operations around the world."

Falcon Air Meet represents not only an opportunity to train and compete in a multilateral setting but also provide the chance for members of various teams to interact with and experience the rich local culture and history.

General Shodash and General North anticipate that the 2008 competition will see a growth in the number of teams participating and observing while at the same time enjoying an expansion in the variety of training events available.

• Date Taken: 06.01.2007
• Date Posted: 06.01.2007 11:49
• Story ID: 10624