JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- Top airmen from around the Indo-Asia-Pacific will gather here Sept. 25 to 28 for the 2017 Pacific Air Chiefs Symposium.

The event will open under the theme “Challenges to Regional Security: Promoting Combined Operations in the Indo-Asia-Pacific.” This year’s gathering of air chiefs marks the most widely-attended symposium to date with 17 different nations scheduled to attend.

“The Indo-Asia-Pacific is increasingly becoming an Airman’s theater with airpower advancing our ability to rapidly respond in times of crisis and conflict,” said Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, Pacific Air Force commander. “How we work together as Airmen in the region to promote security and stability is critically important. PACS serves as a tremendous opportunity for us to work with like-minded nations, to find ways to further our cooperation and interoperability and to share perspectives on the opportunities and challenges which many of us face. The scope of the gathering truly reflects the importance this region holds in current world affairs.”

The symposium consists of key note presentations and panel discussions covering topics ranging from challenges to regional security and counterinsurgency to multilateral humanitarian and disaster relief operations.

“As security concerns continue to evolve in the Pacific, we cannot overstate the importance of interoperability among allies and partners,” said Ms. Heidi Grant, Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs. “Our persistent commitment to improving our nations' Airmen develops air forces that are capable of addressing common challenges.”

Like the first Pacific Air Chiefs Symposium, which took place in 1989, PACS 17 provides a unique opportunity for the air chiefs to articulate common regional challenges and goals, maintain rules based international order in the Pacific, and increase interoperability with allies and partners.

The strategic complexity facing this region is unique and multi-faceted in that it requires coordination between nations. For that reason, the symposium is based on the belief that no nation, regardless of how powerful, can meet global challenges alone. PACS 17 demonstrates the commitment of the U.S. and its allies and partners in the stability and security of the Indo-Asia-Pacific region.