Maj. 
Gen. Abdul Wahab Wardak, Afghan air force commander, and Brig. Gen. Steven Shepro, head of NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan, signed the first-ever combined strategy between the two organizations. The 54-page strategic flight plan went into effect on Nov. 28 during the signing ceremony at NATC-A headquarters at the Kabul International Airport, according to a Nov. 30 release from the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing there. The document guides both commands to execute a jointly developed vision and set of goals and key tasks in 2012 and 2013, states the release. “By the end of 2013, we should accomplish these goals,” said Wardak. They envision creating: a strong, professional Afghan air force that successfully leads its missions and personnel; effective AAF resource management and stewardship; a culture of safe and effective aviation, maintenance, and support; and Afghan-planned, -led, and -coordinated operations that impact 2013 fighting season victories, states the release. Shepro said the strategy “provides joint direction, cohesion, and motivation to build needed airpower capability to succeed in next year’s fight, and to develop capacity of the Afghan air force’s most important asset—its airmen—to sustain that success.”
Newly elected Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has indicated he desires warmer relations with Beijing, saying he is even open to military ties with China, a move that would complicate Pacific Air Forces efforts to protect U.S. interests in the first and second island chains. “We have our relationship not…