Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Gen. Lori Robinson, the Pacific Air Forces commander, speaks to attendees during the Air Force Association's Air and Space Conference and Technology Exposition in Washington, D.C., Sept. 14, 2015. Robinson stressed the importance of building partnerships to enhance stability in the Pacific. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Whitney Stanfield)AFA
                        
                        
                        Gen. Lori Robinson, the Pacific Air Forces commander, speaks to attendees during the Air Force Association's Air and Space Conference and Technology Exposition in Washington, D.C., Sept. 14, 2015. Robinson stressed the importance of building partnerships to enhance stability in the Pacific. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Whitney Stanfield)
                
                Photo Details /
                        Download Hi-Res

Building friendships, partnerships in the PacificPublished Sept. 14, 2015
                    
                    By Tech. Sgt. Torri Hendrix
                    
                    
                    Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs Command Information
            **WASHINGTON (AFNS) --**Gen. Lori Robinson, the Pacific Air Forces commander, emphasized the importance of multinational partnerships throughout the Pacific region as the key to stabilization and continuing progress during a speech she made at the 2015 Air Force Association Air and Space Conference and Technology Exposition Sept. 14.“We have great friends in the Pacific,” Robinson said. The Pacific region accounts for 60 percent of the world’s population and four of eight of the world’s largest missile arsenals, “which is why it’s incredibly important to have friends.”Natural disasters are common in the region, making humanitarian missions a large part of PACAF’s mission set.“The one thing that’s apparent each and every day is natural disasters,” Robinson said. “In the past 10 years, over 2.4 billion people have been affected by natural disasters. One of the things we do great training with is humanitarian assistance and disaster response. It’s a great opportunity for us to work together and train together.”She also discussed the challenges the command faces, adding to the importance of our friends in the region. Among those are China, which has reclaimed more than 3,000 acres on reefs in the South China Seas and built a 10,000-foot runway on one of them, as well as the rapidly decreasing capability and technology gap. Fiscal challenges add to the command's concerns."With sequestration and continuing resolution, our ability for long-term planning is gone," she said. "Our ability for stability is gone."For Robinson, the way forward is through what she calls the “four P’s: presence, partnership, power projection and people.”The Air Force’s presence is all over the Pacific, and partnerships are made through that presence. She said it can be as small as one Airman serving as an attaché, or an entire base or large-scale exercise. Some of the large exercises that bring the region together, like Pacific Angel, Talisman Sabre and Red Flag: Alaska, open doors and build the partnerships necessary to power project whenever necessary.“That ability to build presence and partnerships that allows us to power project is a force multiplier,” Robinson said. “It gives us the opportunity in peace to work together so when we should be asked, we know how to do it.”While that power projection built on the partnerships created through presence is important, she said none of it can be accomplished without the PACAF Airmen who perform the mission every day and are ambassadors in every country.“There are amazing Airmen and their families out there,” she said. “It is all about our Airmen and their families. I always say the command’s success is the Airmen’s success, and their families. Without them, I’m just somebody waving stuff around.”This year’s Pacific Angel exercise was the largest yet, and the friendships created there helped enhance the aid provided to Nepal after the devastating earthquake in April, she said. The multinational forces working together see familiar faces and help communities where they’ve already been, and people they’ve already met.She invited the air chiefs from several Pacific nations to join her on stage as her friends in the region.“I’ve had the privilege to see amazing Airmen, not just (in the) United States, but airmen all around the Pacific. It starts with people,” Robinson said.Gen. Lori Robinson 



humanitarian aid 



2015 AFA 



Pacific Air Forces

Related Links
        Click here for more AFA coverage Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF, CSAF, CMSAF begin Indo-Pacific trip focused on ACE
                    
                    DAF leaders talk budget, reoptimizing the force
                    
                    DAF leaders speak at National Character and Leadership Symposium
                    
                    DAF members recognized during BEYA STEM awards
                    
                    DAF senior enlisted advisors discuss Airmen, Guardians in the fightInnovation
                F-16s arrive to be modified for autonomous testing
                    
                    AFWERX director discusses role of tech startups, quick innovation in Great Power Competition
                    
                    DAF delivers lethality at the speed of data during Project Convergence Capstone 4
                    
                    DAF welcomes industry partners to HQ development program
                    
                    DAF announces Spark Tank 2024 finalistsMAJCOM News
                Safety enterprise announces new mission, vision, goals in 2024 strategic plan
                    
                    Air Combat Command welcomes new commander
                    
                    USAFE-AFAFRICA commander discusses Integrated Air, Missile Defense during Munich Security Conference
                    
                    Flosi to AFMC family: Embrace change, make every day count
                    
                    AMC rises to increasing global tension
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil