Air advisors from the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing at Ramstein AB, Germany, conducted five outreach missions in one week earlier this month, setting a unit mark for simultaneous engagement, according to a release on Monday. “We have never executed this many at once during a single week,” said Maj. John Sherinian, air advisor branch chief with the 435th Contingency Response Group. “These [missions] represent months’ worth of diligent work, for which there are no set checklists for our airmen to follow. Every mission is a little different and has its own nuances,” he said. From Sept. 15 to Sept. 19, advisors in communications, fuel, medical, operations, and safety fields met with airmen in Bulgaria, Latvia, and Poland to practice techniques and exchange knowhow, states the Sept. 22 release. “Each of these missions helps build partnership capacities,” said Sherinian. Previously, the air advisor branch was averaging two outreach missions a week.
A record investment in research and development by the Department of the Air Force will help the United States win the long-term technology race with China, even while shrinking the fleet size before a possible mid-decade Taiwan contingency, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said May 17. “With the Air Force,…