Photo By Joseph Siemandel | Brig. Gen. Johan Deutscher, the director of the joint staff and lead Air National...... read more read more
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When building relationships with a new partner, body language and casual conversations are just as important as the information being shared. That’s why there was added excitement about the 4th annual Airmen to Airmen talks between the Washington Air National Guard and the Malaysian Air Force, the first face-to-face meeting in nearly two years between the two organizations.
“We are excited to get back to working with our Malaysia partners and growing our friendship and partnership,” said Maj. Gen. Bret Daugherty, the adjutant general. “I know there are some exciting things we are already doing and some things we are talking about doing moving forward.”
Officially becoming partners through the National Guard State Partnership Program in August of 2017, the relationship with the Malaysian Armed Forces was moving forward quickly until the COVID-19 global pandemic halted all travel between the two nations. All engagements had to shift to a virtual setting, which allowed for the relationship to continue, but not always flourish.
“Going virtual was not ideal, but it was what we had at the time,” said Lt. Col. Keith Kosik, director of the Washington National Guard State Partnership Program. “Going back to in-person engagements has helped move the program forward again.”
Currently the Washington Air National Guard has a robust set of engagements with the Malaysian Air Force, conducting engagements in Joint Terminal Attack, Defensive Cyber and Air Domain Awareness. This year’s talks focused on expanding the subject matter exchanges to include air refueling and medical exchanges, primarily with the 141st Air Refueling Wing.
“We know that we share some common threats and if we can work through those threats together, it will only make us stronger,” said Daugherty.
“We are excited to restart in-person Airmen to Airmen talks,” said Brig. Gen. Johan Deutscher, the director of the joint staff and lead Air National Guard officer for the event. “Our goal has been and continues to be that we have airmen that can work together, serve together, grow old together and strengthen relationships together.”
Those sentiments were shared by Maj. Gen. Dato Zulkifli, Asst. Chief of Staff for Operations and Strategy for the Royal Malaysian Air Force and lead delegate for the talks.
“We want to thank the Washington Guard for their full support in this program, we believe this program will lead to lifelong friendships,” said Zulkifli. “We want to look at all opportunities to work together and learn and improve through these engagements together.”
| Date Taken: | 11.18.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 11.18.2021 12:37 |
| Story ID: | 409584 |
| Location: | CAMP MURRAY, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 254 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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