The Air Force renewed its bilateral training plan with the Brazilian Air Force last month, thereby cementing the two parties’ joint participation in exercises and events over the next year. Lt. Gen. Norman Seip, 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) commander, and Gen. Juniti Saito, Brazilian Air Force Chief of Staff, signed the training document May 11 in Brasilia. “It was an historic day in the ongoing friendship shared between Brazil and the United States,” said Seip, who is retiring later this year (see above) Among the joint training activities planned are firefighting from a C-130 platform, procedures and policies for conducting non-combat unmanned aerial vehicle flights, radar deployment, and mid-air refueling. Brazilian airmen will participate in Red Flag at Nellis AFB, Nev., and Angel Thunder (a combat search and rescue exercise) at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. US airmen will be a part of Cruzex, the largest air exercise in Latin America, which Brazil hosts. And there will be cadet exchanges. Brazil is one of two nations—the other is Chile—with which AFSOUTH has formal training agreements. (Davis-Monthan report by TSgt. Eric Petosky)
Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, held meetings with defense leaders from the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea during a trip to the Indo-Pacific this week.