AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --
Slovenian
Armed Forces leaders visited Aviano Air Base, Italy, Jan. 22, 2019.
The visit
familiarized Slovenian military leaders with the 31st Fighter Wing mission in
order to strengthen the U.S. and Slovenian partnership.
“The
willingness of our Slovenian counterparts to visit Aviano and continue the
discussions of shared military training opportunities is crucial to the success
of those efforts,” said Col. Richard Nelson, 31st Operations Group commander. “The
Slovenian Armed Forces contingent brought experts from across their force who
were ready and willing to discuss specific engagement and training
opportunities between the forces of our countries.”
The visit
was the first time ever that Slovenian Armed Forces leaders visited the base.
The base
tour included static displays highlighting the wing’s combat capabilities. Each
display included a subject matter expert briefing leaders on their equipment’s
capabilities and use.
“It’s useful to see all this stuff in real
life, first of all to know the people behind the equipment and to speak with
them,” said Slovenian Army Col. Dean Groff. “I’m really grateful for that.”
Local training
can be conducted within 150 to 200 miles from Aviano. This area extends into Slovenia
due to its proximity to Italy.
“It’s
crucial that we pursue all training opportunities and locations to ensure we
are ready to execute our mission sets anywhere in the world,” said Nelson. “It’s
also important for us to interact with Slovenia as one of our NATO allies.”
The visit helped lay the foundation for better
training possibilities, on both sides, in the future.