The Air Force is embarking on a new global partnership strategy that it says will be a more expansive and improved means of building relationships, interoperable capabilities, and partnership capacity with international friends and allies. The new plan will replace USAF’s current security cooperation strategy, Bruce S. Lemkin, the Air Force’s deputy under secretary for International Affairs, said in a May 13 statement. It will incorporate elements of irregular warfare, security force assistance (formerly train, test, and assist activities), and building partnership capacity portfolios, in addition to the traditional counter-insurgency, foreign internal defense, security cooperation, security assistance, and international military education and training aspects of the former plan, he said. Lemkin’s office will host the first meeting of the global partnership strategy working group May 19 to 22 in Crystal City, Va., to discuss building global partnerships with representatives from across the service.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.
