Bangladesh, U.S. Airmen sign way ahead at ninth Airman-to-Airman Talks
Bangladesh Air Force Air Commodore Mohammad Sahidul Islam, director of plans, Air Headquarters, and head of the Bangladesh delegation; U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Shane Vesely, director of strategy, plans, programs and requirements, Headquarters Pacific Air Forces; and U.S. Air Force Col. Christopher Lantagne, director of staff, Oregon Air National Guard, signed the minutes in the Air Headquarters Annex Building conference room.
The talks opened Sept. 20 with addresses by the delegation leaders and presentations from PACAF and the Bangladesh Air Force. Over the following sessions, the delegations reviewed progress on action items from last year's minutes, worked through agenda items from both sides and drafted the new minutes together. On the final morning, the delegations visited the Bangladesh Air Force's 133 Air Transport Unit before the signing.
"We must remain focused on purpose over activity," Lantagne said in his closing remarks. "An engagement is not valuable simply because it occurred, but because it leaves an Airman better trained, a process improved, or a new capability established."
Lantagne said the value of the talks is measured by what the partners turn into action afterward. For the Oregon National Guard, that means working with the Bangladesh Air Force, PACAF, the U.S. Embassy and the United States Military Group to turn shared priorities into realistic, executable engagements.
"We are not just looking toward the next engagement," he said. "We are invested in a lifelong relationship."
Oregon and Bangladesh have been partners under the National Guard Bureau's State Partnership Program since 2008.
Vesely, who co-chaired the talks, credited the quality of the discussions and the concrete action items that came out of them.
"I'm always inspired by what is possible when our Airmen work shoulder to shoulder and eyeball to eyeball to strengthen the bilateral relationship between our two great air forces," Vesely said.
Sahidul said the week was the product of long preparation and produced precise, meaningful action items, with a noticeable improvement in how the minutes were written and in both sides' willingness to carry them out. He said that when the Bangladesh Air Force sits down with its American partners, the two sides speak the same language and see eye to eye, with common missions and shared effort.
The partners alternate hosting the talks, and the Oregon Air National Guard hosted last year's session at Kingsley Field in Klamath Falls, Oregon.
"Last year we hosted; this year you hosted," Lantagne told the Bangladesh delegation. "I wish we could have flip-flopped that so Oregon could have learned how to truly host."
"Air Commodore Sahidul and his comprehensive and professional team were extremely gracious and welcoming hosts," Vesely said. "Their warm hospitality made us feel at home in Dhaka and provided a foundation of trust on which to build candid and productive talks. I can't wait to see the resulting progress in the days and months ahead."
The signed minutes will now go through the Bangladesh Air Force's formal approval process before being exchanged between the partners.
Vesely said he looks forward to the 10th Airman-to-Airman Talks next year, with interim check-ins in between to track progress.
"This is not the end, but the beginning," he said.
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