Air Force aeromedical personnel compared disaster-relief and evacuation notes with their New Zealand counterparts as part of Kiwi Flag, a tactical air mobility exercise at Whenuapai Air Base, near Auckland, said Pacific Air Forces officials May 8. “To our knowledge there has not been an exchange of this nature in the past between our two countries,” said MSgt. Enrique Ferrera, 13th Air Force medical specialist from JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, in discussing this interaction during the exercise, which concluded in April. “It was absolutely one of the best engagements I have been part of to date and I view this as a stepping stone to further medical endeavors between our nations,” he added. For Kiwi Flag, USAF airmen, US marines, and New Zealand personnel also conducted airdrop and jump training alongside troops from Australia, France, and Singapore. (Whenuapai report by Capt. Rebecca Hayse)
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III conducted virtual talks on April 16 with his Chinese counterpart, Adm. Dong Jun, Beijing's Minister of Defense, marking the first direct talk between defense chiefs of the two nations in close to two years.