Pacific Summit was Civil in Nature

Thirteenth Air Force held a civil engineering summit at JB-Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for mid-level officers from 14 regional Asia-Pacific partner nations. The subject-matter exchange was meant to enhance regional partnerships and promote interoperability among the participating nations. “This forum allowed our counterparts in the Asia-Pacific region a rare behind-the-scenes look at our civil engineering operations,” said Col. Mark Bednar, 13th AF director of installations mission. Participating were representatives from Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, Laos, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, Thailand, Tonga, and Vietnam. The training focused on areas like emergency management preparation, disaster response, and fire prevention. The delegates also traveled to several locations in the continental US during the summit, which concluded earlier this week, including Goodfellow AFB, Tex., and the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. (Pearl Harbor-Hickam report by TSgt. Kerry Jackson)