BANGKOK, Thailand -- The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) hosted the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) delegation in Bangkok, Thailand, for the fifth RTAF-PACAF Airman-to-Airman talks (A2A) Aug. 20-22, 2018.

A2A talks are jointly held discussions between U.S. and partner nation air forces designed to bolster relations and provide a venue to share best practices.

“Airman-to-Airman talks are incredibly important, not only for us, but for our allies and partner nations,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. James Eifert, Air National Guard assistant to the commander, PACAF. “These talks help all parties involved to become more interoperable. The more we can carry on these conversations, the better we become at increasing that interoperability. By improving our services as a whole, we are able to build relationships that are enduring.”

RTAF Air Marshal Maanat Wongwat, deputy chief of air staff, and Eifert jointly chaired this year’s talks.

During his remarks AM Maanat said despite the fact that more action items were added to the list, the two air forces continue to progress in developing their interoperability.

The three-day talks began with discussions covering a wide range of topics including personnel management, exercise planning, force development, and safety operations. Both air forces, through open discussions, are able to learn, adapt and grow to better meet their combined objectives.

“I think this is really important for us to exchange ideas [and] generate knowledge” AM Maanat said. “I think the future is more complex in this region, and I think if we get together and work together more and more, there will be more understanding between both peoples to take on the challenges of the region.”

The next RTAF-PACAF A2A talks is scheduled for August 2019 at Camp Murray, Washington.

“The relationship between our two countries is continuing to grow,” Eifert said during his closing remarks. “It’s all about improving and getting better together, because everything is improved when you work as a team.”