RAF, USAF share public affairs insights

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Denise Johnson
  • 3rd Air Force-United Kingdom Public Affairs
A unit of Royal Air Force Reserve Public Affairs officers visited RAF Mildenhall Saturday for a shared learning tour with U.S. Air Force Public Affairs members based in the U.K. 

About 10 members of the 7644 (VR) Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force spent the day in immersion training, which consisted of briefings explaining each U.S. Air Force wing mission in the U.K., as well as the public affairs role at those wings. 

After lunch, members of 7644 (VR) Squadron briefed their unit's concept of operations sighting examples from past deployments and future plans. 

"This has been an outstanding opportunity to compare notes with our RAF counterparts and learn how they conduct business," said Maj. John Haynes, 3rd Air Force-UK, public affairs officer. "I'm hoping this mutual education will lead to improved public affairs processes and closer ties between us in the future." 

There were benefits of the event for both groups, not withstanding the friendships between U.K. and U.S. counterparts. 

"This has been a valuable piece of training providing us an opportunity to share insights," said Squadron Leader Howard Leader, 7644 (VR) Squadron. "We often work with NATO counterparts when deploying, and this gives new members of the squadron a chance to familiarize themselves with the practices they are likely to encounter, so we can all work together more efficiently." 

The rest of the afternoon was spent giving the RAF visitors a glimpse behind the scenes at RAF Mildenhall, home of the 100th Air Refueling Wing. The group visited the air traffic control tower, the fire department and also witnessed a military working dog demonstration - at the end of which a couple of brave souls took the "bite." 

"It was brilliant," Officer Cadet Lesley Woods said of being on the receiving end of a training bite from Staff Sgt. Ryan Purvis' K-9 cop partner 'War,' a 10 year-old German Shepherd. "I believe you should give everything a go at least once. Besides, when would I ever get a chance to do this kind of thing again?" 

Her arm was protected with a military working dog training device known as a bite wrap.
Putting once-in-a-lifetime opportunities aside, a relatively new arrival to the U.K. commented on what the training meant to her. 

"This gathering helped provide me with some insight on the U.K. side of public affairs," said Tech. Sgt. Kristina Barrett, 501st Combat Support Wing Public Affairs noncommissioned officer in charge. "I feel like I now have counterparts I can reach out to, which is sure to help me down the road." 

Sergeant Barrett is in a one-deep position covering public affairs for RAFs Alconbury, Molesworth, Croughton, Menwith Hill, Fairford, Welford, Daws Hill, Upwood and the U.S. NATO support base, Stavanger, in Norway. 

The full day of shared insights and interaction has brought neighbors and peers together, highlighting the shared missions and providing new perspectives from which each group learned. 

"It's been great," said Officer Cadet Alistair Pether, 7644 (VR) Squadron, "and really interesting talking with everyone and covering all aspects of the media. It seems to me we're more specialized or geared toward the media because we work in the media like the BBC, ITV, or radio in our normal day jobs, whereas you all seem to have an overall approach to public relations." 

As combined and joint operations increase on a global scale, new approaches may have influenced the groups' decision to start training together here at home, but there is little doubt of the benefit it will have in deployed operations. 

"We work together for real-world missions around the world, there's no better place to start than right here - without the added stress or chaos of responding to a crisis," said Major Haynes. "It will definitely be value-added to both in garrison and downrange operations for all the PAs who attended."