Exercise Arabian Gulf Shield has successfully concluded promoting interoperability between the US Air Force (USAF) personnel and counterpartners in the (Persian) Gulf region.
The exercise, which saw participation from Qatar, Oman, United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, is said to be the first iteration of a new programme.
The exercise is the culmination of the new Gulf Cooperation Council Liaison Officer (GCC LNO) and senior planner programmes.
It is said to boost the operability of the coalition to deal with any current and future military situations by means of fostering a military cooperation between the participating nations.
The GCC LNO programme, which has arrived to its ninth cycle, is more operation oriented. It is coupled by the two-week Senior Operations Planner Program.
The training saw exchange of knowledge and experiences from Persian Gulf coalition members which were aimed at fortifying the future combined air operations centre liaison officers and planners.
US Air Forces Central Command and Combined Forces Air Component commander lieutenant general Charles Brown said: "We have been able to improve our interoperability with our partners in the (Persian) Gulf region, as well as increase the air and air defense capabilities within the coalition."
During the course of the exercise, the senior planners dwelled on strategic planning and campaign plan development and worked with the LNOs to articulate an air attack plan and demonstrating the execution of the same.
LNO / senior planner programme coordinator first lieutenant Joshua Skoglund said: "Without the sharing of knowledge and experiences from our gulf partners this concept would not have become a reality."
Image: Representatives of the participating nations in the Arabian Gulf Shield. Photo: courtesy of US Air Force / Master Sgt. Joshua Strang.
