We also share interests in assisting those in distress in the air and at sea, and can offer assistance to each other when natural disasters strike. The armed forces of the region tend to harbor unwarranted fears of neighbors and regional powers. Military dialog and rudimentary exercises on common tasks, promote understanding, and build trust and confidence that allows mindsets to change. The air and the space beyond are truly places where we can learn cooperation and coordination, because the air does not allow itself to be as easily divided into sectors as does the land. Our tactics, techniques, and procedures for operating together are rudimentary.
Communications are difficult.
Yet, these are challenges that can be surmounted, and that we must tackle. Many of these difficulties came to the surface during the military operation in East Timor, and have given immediacy to the challenge of building regional capabilities to operate together. Based upon a proposal from a conference of regional military communications officers, we have created an Asia-Pacific area network open to all regional armed forces for coordinating planning, operations, and routine activities. Usually the Air Force is the first of the branches to leverage technology, so I expect to see great things from you all on this network, beginning with discussions of air power. Traditionally, Pacific Command conducts hundreds of exercises each year, of which almost all are bilateral.