CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The North Carolina Air National Guard (NCANG) hosted a visit for its state partners from the Malawi and Zambia air forces, through the National Guard’s State Partnership Program (SPP), at the Charlotte Air National Guard Base, Charlotte, N.C., Jan. 12-16.
The visit focused on NCANG personnel sharing best practices in logistical readiness, aircraft maintenance practices and flight operations to support the Malawi and Zambia air forces to modernize their logistics.
“The purpose of this visit was to build relationships with our partner nations,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Selicia Mitchell, 145th Airlift Wing, deputy commander. “North Carolina has four partner nations—Botswana, Moldova, Malawi, and Zambia—and while we’ve built relationships with Botswana and Moldova over decades, our partnerships with Malawi and Zambia are still growing.”
During the visit, partner nation representatives toured the C-17 Globemaster III and interacted with key personnel about aircraft operations, providing them with an inside look at how the NCANG prioritizes aircrew safety and standardization.
“Showing our aircrew flight equipment demonstrates what we do to keep our pilots and loadmasters safe,” said U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Nicholas Banward, 156th Airlift Squadron, pilot.
“We hope our partners can take some of these practices back to their home organizations to help increase their effectiveness and safety."
Standardization was a key topic throughout the visit, as it pertained to aviation safety andoperational effectiveness.
“When people think of standard evaluation, they think checkrides are our number one focus,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Chris McGarvey, 145th Operations Group, chief of standardization and evaluation. “But we have other programs that we manage and ensure that training standards are being taught correctly and operated in accordance with regulations.”
Standardization not only applied to the pilots, but also to the logistics and maintenance to sustain aviation operations.
“We have a standard operational framework that minimizes lost time and allows us to receive a quality product,” said U.S. Army Capt. Jacob Knox, 449th Combat Aviation Brigade Headquarters, logistics management officer. “Maintenance drives operations, operations drive maintenance and without a strong sustainment framework, operations slow down and readiness is impacted.”
Throughout the visit, Airmen and Soldiers highlighted the importance of standardizing aviation logistics and maintenance, explaining how it provides a safe and mission-ready aircraft to support aviation operations. Partner nation representatives also toured the 145th Logistics Readiness Squadron (LRS) by observing four critical areas within logistics readiness: air transportation, vehicle operations, material management, and petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL).
“Logistical knowledge is essential because it directly influences a unit’s ability to deploy, recover and sustain assets,” said Senior Master Sgt. Taliqua Scott, 145th LRS, material management superintendent. “These types of visits help to reinforce our commitment to our state partners and pinpoint the need for critical logistical knowledge, both at home station and abroad.”
The SPP visit concluded with a shared commitment to reinforce the importance of logistics, maintenance and operations in building readiness and strengthening international partnerships.
“Defense is more than just equipment—it’s having the right people, training, skills and processes in place to fly, fight and win,” said Mitchell. “By sharing our best practices, we’re ready to support them as they [the Malawi and Zambia air forces] continue to build their fleet of aircraft.”