RAMSTEIN,
Germany – Allied Air Force Chiefs and Senior Enlisted
Leaders from 27 NATO nations and four Partnership nations convened at
Headquarters Allied Air Command, Ramstein Airbase, Germany on July 2 and 3 for
the 2018-1 NATO Air Chiefs’ Symposium.
The Commander of Allied Air Command, General Tod D. Wolters welcomed the Air Chiefs and Senior Enlisted Leaders and presented his
perspectives on the current security environment and NATO’s strategic shift
from assurance to deterrence. "The support of Air Power from across the
Alliance provides a credible and responsive deterrence and defence posture. Air
Power is critical in meeting NATO’s desired objectives while providing key
enablers in the defence of joint forces,” said General Wolters. "We stand ready
to provide multi domain command and control of Air and Space assets as we deter
our competition.
Our centralised control and decentralised
execution posture gives us great flexibility across our area of responsibility.
The continuous improvements in our command and
control tools and the experience gathered in our exercises have shown we are
well prepared to meet the upcoming challenges.”
To provide context to the discussions, the Air
Chiefs attended informational multi-media presentations, an Allied Air Command
mission brief, and a tour of the Operations and Situation Centres. The event
also brought together several distinguished visitors, to include the new Chairman
of NATO’s Military Committee, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, Deputy
Undersecretary of the United States Air Force for International Affairs, Ms.
Heidi Grant, Commander of the NATO Airborne Early Warning and Control Force,
Major General Dawn Dunlop, and Vice Admiral Mathias Winter, Executive Officer
of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Programme.
Air Chief Marshal Peach delivered his political-military
perspective to inform the Air Chief’s discussions. The main themes of the
symposium covered ‘Airpower’s Unique Contribution to NATO’s Success’,
‘Challenges to the Delivery of Air Capabilities’ and ‘The Way Forward’. Topics for
face-to-face conversations of the Air Chiefs during the meeting included Air
contributions to NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence missions in Eastern NATO
countries, Air-specific outcomes of the NATO Command Structure Adaptation, and an
update on modern fighter aircraft integration into existing fleets as well as an
outlook on the United States contribution to NATO Ballistic
Missile Defence.
The symposium ended with a debriefing held by
General Wolters and a tour de table for situational updates on the national air
forces contributing to NATO Airpower. Held twice a year at Allied Air Command, the NATO Air Chiefs Symposium
provides a forum for Allies and Partners to discuss Joint and Air domain
issues.
Story by Allied Air Command Public Affairs Office