Air Guard director and command chief visit Enduring Partners 2023

Photo By Senior Airman Yuki Klein | Lt. Gen. Michael Loh, Director Air National Guard, views the refueling of U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagles and Royal Thai Air Force F-16 Vipers from the boom pod, alongside Senior Airman Eric Porter, 116th Air Refueling Squadron boom operator, near Korat Air Base, Royal Kingdom of Thailand for Enduring Partners 2023, Sept. 19, 2023. The general and his staff visited to see the State Partnership Program engagement between the Kingdom of Thailand, the Washington and Oregon Air National Guard. The two-week engagement served as an opportunity to gain valuable training through combined dissimilar air combat training, air-to-air refueling and ground-controlled interception for the Washington and Oregon Air National Guard and the Royal Thai Air Force. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Yuki Klein)  

KORAT ROYAL THAI AIR BASE, THAILAND

09.21.2023

Story by Airman 1st Class Yuki Klein 

Washington Air National Guard

Lt. Gen. Michael Loh, Director Air National Guard, and Chief Master Sgt. Maurice Williams, Air National Guard command chief visited Korat Air Base, Royal Kingdom of Thailand for Enduring Partners 2023, Sept. 20, 2023.

The general and his staff visited to see the State Partnership Program engagement between the Kingdom of Thailand, the Washington, and Oregon Air National Guard. Loh started his day by riding on a KC-135 Stratotanker with airmen from the Washington and Oregon Guard and Royal Thai Air Force. Participants viewed the refueling of the U.S. Air Force F-15 Eagles and Royal Thai Air Force F-16 Vipers from the boom pod.

“It’s unbelievable when you think about how we deliver air power on jets that were in before I became a cadet at the Air Force Academy. They are still out there flying and they are still at the leading edge of air power. So it is pretty amazing,” Loh said. “It is a testament to our maintainers, a testament to our folks that are engineers.”

Proceeding the KC-135 Stratotanker flight, Loh coined numerous service members from the Washington and Oregon Air Guard for their hard work and dedication to the mission. Williams provided some insight into the importance of the guard, the Air National Guard presence in Thailand, and the strength that each member brings to the table.

“What you are doing here is part of that action, it shows how you exercise and you can defend, how we exercise and we can deter, and by doing that we put that together and that makes us dominate,” said Williams. “You are securing the nation by the things that you are doing with our allies and partners. Together we become one. We integrate, that's the main focus.”

• Date Taken: 09.21.2023
• Date Posted: 09.22.2023 08:35
• Story ID: 454035
• Location: KORAT ROYAL THAI AIR BASE, TH