Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs (SAF/IA)

SAF/IA Kelli Seybolt was recently in Zambia to attend the 14th African Air Chiefs Symposium, which brought together more than 240 participants from 38 nations to strengthen partnerships across the African airpower community. During the event, Seybolt met with a range of African partners to discuss regional security dynamics, force modernization efforts, and opportunities to strengthen collaboration with the United States Department of the Air Force. #SecurityThroughCooperation #StrongerTogether #AACS U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM)?| U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa

Assistant SAF/IA?Maj. Gen. Ricky Mills recently attended #AeroIndia2025 to reaffirm the United States Department of the Air Force commitment to the U.S.-India Major Defense Partnership and to engage a range of allies and partners in support of mutual security objectives. Mills helped kick off U.S. participation in the event at the USA Partnership Pavilion opening ceremony, where he highlighted how the U.S. and India are strengthening security cooperation through increasingly complex exercises, information sharing frameworks, and defense trade. Mills also took part in a U.S. industry roundtable, during which he emphasized industry’s crucial role in ensuring U.S. and Indian forces are interoperable and equipped with cutting-edge defense technologies. #SecurityThroughCooperation #StrongerTogether #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific U.S. Indo-Pacific Command?| Pacific Air Forces | Indian Air Force

Last week, SAF/IA Kelli Seybolt visited #Botswana to discuss a range of security cooperation priorities with military and government leaders, including Assistant Minister for State President Maipelo Mophuting. Throughout the visit, Seybolt commended Botswana’s contributions to regional security, such as its peacekeeping support?to the Southern African Development Community Mission in Mozambique. She underscored the importance the United States Air Force places on its growing partnership with the Air Arm of the Botswana Defence Force, noting it is built on shared values and a commitment to promoting stability and prosperity in Southern Africa. Seybolt also emphasized how the #USAF wants to continue to increase interoperability between the #BDF and other African air forces and help build its capacity to act as a security exporter. U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) I U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa

Last week, SAF/IA Kelli Seybolt traveled to Amendola Air Base, Italy, to attend a meeting of F-35 air chiefs hosted by Aeronautica Militare. The gathering brought together air chiefs and other senior leaders from Europe and beyond to discuss information-sharing, cross-servicing agreements, and leveraging the F-35 to deter common threats. #SecurityThroughCooperation #StrongerTogether U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa?

Last week, Assistant SAF/IA?Maj. Gen. Ricky Mills?attended the biannual Joint Foreign Area Officer Course Phase I at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center?in Monterey, California, where he spoke to Airmen beginning their #FAO journeys. Mills underscored the crucial role FAOs play as the face of the United States Air Force to partner nations and emphasized how they advance national security goals by leveraging their regional expertise, cultural knowledge, and language skills to strengthen security cooperation. #SecurityThroughCooperation?#FAONation

Assistant SAF/IA Maj. Gen. Ricky Mills joined Bulgarian Minister of Defence Atanas Zapryanov and other U.S. and Bulgarian government and military leaders in Greenville, South Carolina, last week to celebrate the delivery of the first Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jet to the Bulgarian Air Force. Speaking at the event, Mills expressed appreciation for the opportunity to partner with Bulgaria and highlighted how the F-16 will bolster Bulgarian sovereign defense capabilities as well as regional security.? “We are grateful for Bulgaria’s partnership in this endeavor and its commitment to long-term defense planning,” Mills said. “The F-16 will play?a major role in?strengthening Bulgaria’s ability to defend its people and territory, while reinforcing NATO’s collective security, especially on the Eastern Flank and in the Black Sea region.” #SecurityThroughCooperation #StrongerTogether #WeAreNATO U.S. European Command | U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa | U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria

United States Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Dave Allvin and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force David Flosi recently conducted a #StandingWatch trip in Europe and the Middle East to meet with #Airmen serving overseas during the holiday season and to separately engage with allies and partners.?? ? The trip included meetings with counterparts and other senior military leaders from Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Romania to reaffirm and strengthen ongoing security cooperation efforts. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eyxFyp9M And here: https://lnkd.in/epXuzbvu #SecurityThroughCooperation #StrongerTogether U.S. European Command | U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa | U. S. Central Command (USCENTCOM)

Last week, Assistant SAF/IA Maj. Gen. Ricky Mills hosted French Maj. Gen. Michel Sayegh, Program Executive Officer for Space, C4ISR, and Cybersecurity at DGA - Direction générale de l'armement, to discuss the?enduring U.S.-France defense and security partnership. During their meeting, the leaders reviewed ongoing security cooperation initiatives and explored opportunities to expand collaboration in the air and space domains.? #SecurityThroughCooperation #StrongerTogether U.S. European Command | U.S. Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa | French Ministry for Armed Forces?

SAF/IA?Director of Policy, Programs, and Strategy?Steven Ruehl joined Air Marshal Paul Godfrey, the United States Space Force?Assistant Chief of Space Operations?for?Future Concepts and Partnerships, in a fireside chat last week at the Space Force Association?#SpacepowerConference2024 to discuss international cooperation. During the engagement, Ruehl highlighted some of the ways SAF/IA supports the Space Force as it builds international partnerships, including through key leader engagement, personnel exchanges, international armaments cooperation, foreign military sales, and information sharing. He also emphasized the importance of removing barriers to cooperation to maximize allied and partner contributions to coalition space operations. “We are dependent on our allies and partners,” Ruehl said. “We have to work this very hard to make sure those spacefaring nations we work with on a daily basis can provide the capabilities that will benefit the coalition.” #SecurityThroughCooperation #PartnerToWin #Spacepower2024??

The United States recently delivered five Textron Aviation Defense Beechcraft T-6C trainer aircraft to the #Vietnam Air Defence Air Force, a major milestone in the growing bilateral defense relationship that enhances Vietnam’s pilot training and airpower capabilities.?? As the inaugural Foreign Military Sales program established between the United States Air Force and Vietnam ADAF, the T-6Cs are the first U.S.-origin military aircraft delivered to the country since the end of the Vietnam War. A full complement of 12 T-6Cs is scheduled for delivery by 2025. “Today’s arrival of the first T-6 aircraft to the Vietnam Air Defence Air Force represents the promise we made to assist in your air force modernization efforts,” Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Kevin Schneider said. “This moment reflects our shared commitment to peace and the rule of law in the region.” Read more: https://lnkd.in/gVPnr_eQ #SecurityThroughCooperation #StrongerTogether #FreeAndOpenIndoPacific U.S. Indo-Pacific Command