Tunis, Tunisia —
Twelve African partner countries participated in the 2024 Africa Partnership Flight, co-hosted by the Tunisian Air Force and the US Air Forces Africa, from July 15 to 19, 2024 in Tunis, Tunisia.
African Partnership Flight is a twice-yearly force development, education, and interoperability workshop that helps strengthen U.S. strategic partnerships by sharing ideas to enhance regional cooperation and interoperability. .
Col. Christine M. Cullinan, executive director of the Association of African Air Forces, said the APF is an opportunity to develop multilateral coordination on the continent and open dialogue to strengthen military capabilities and interoperability within the theater.
“This week served as a foundation for fostering meaningful cooperation between African partner countries,” Cullinan said. “Africa Partnership Flight is a vehicle to move AAAF and associated partners toward operationalization.”
The initiative is a voluntary, non-political organization focused on collaborative, multilateral efforts to advance African-led airpower solutions among 29 African member states in collaboration with the U.S. Air Force. It was conducted with members of an African Air Forces Association.
During the 2024 African Air Force Chiefs Symposium, AAAF members voted to conduct the AAAF Exercise Series, a tactical instrument to operationalize the Association’s goal of developing the respective capabilities, capabilities, and interoperability of African Air Forces. I did.
“As an African-led organization, AAAF strives to be innovative and proactive, taking the initiative in identifying and seizing opportunities that will help the Association grow to greater heights through effective management. ,” said Colonel Wingstone Nyika of the Zambia Air Force AAAF Joint Force. -Secretary General.
Using a three-year exercise cycle, tabletop exercises will be conducted in 2025 to solidify the strategy, followed by flight exercises in 2026. This exercise series will focus on responding to humanitarian assistance and disaster relief scenarios.
Airmen assigned to the 818th Mobility Support Advisory Squadron laid the foundation for the APF by introducing the HA/DR concept to foster conversations about transcontinental lessons among African Air Forces.
Lieutenant Colonel Dorcas Badu-Eboah, AAAF liaison officer in the Ghana Air Force, said: “APF was very useful to me because the association had been established for some time and the goal seemed far away.” Ta. “Through the diverse voices and different perspectives of our participants, this week gave us a clearer scope, a unified purpose, and a clearer goal to work toward in steering our association.”
USAF and TAF subject matter experts leveraged real-world HA/DR examples to discuss the importance of airspace collision avoidance, medical response, and airfield safety.
For TAF Joint Terminal Attack Controller Operator Lt. Safwen Rabaoui, the APF provided valuable insight into the exercise planning process from creation to execution.
“This is my first time participating in an African Partnership Flight, and it was very beneficial to share experiences and knowledge with other African Air Forces,” Rabaoui said. “Interoperability is key. It means training together, using resources efficiently, implementing collective solutions, and working together to save lives when disaster strikes.” can.”
The following countries participated in the APF: Botswana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Madagascar, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, the United States, and Zambia.
