LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
The next time an Airman deploys alongside servicemembers from El Salvador, Honduras, or the Dominican Republic, they may be deploying with graduates of the Inter-American Air Forces Academy International NCO Officer Academy.
Taught both in residence and in a deployable, mobile form by the 837th Training Squadron, the noncommissioned officers development course has gained great popularity among Latin American militaries and enthusiasm for more education opportunities is spreading quickly.
"The first time we offered the course in a mobile capacity was in 2008," said Master Sgt. Samuel Nunez, director of education, NCO Academy detachment. "The regional concept has gained tremendous popularity and the demand for both courses (in-residence and mobile) is equal; people simply want to participate."
Recognizing a need for NCO development in Latin America, the mobile course began as an experiment to gauge partner nation interest and a way to offer the curriculum in a more cost-effective manner.
Sergeant Nunez said it was Lt. Gen. Norman Seip, U.S. Air Forces South Commander, who championed the benefits of NCO development to help foster better relationships between the United States and Latin America.
"The success has been so dramatic that now all the (Latin American) countries want to take part in the course," said Sergeant Nunez. "The demand has gone from 'let's see how this works' to 'yes, I want you in my country to teach us, now.'"
The first mobile course was executed in Columbia in mid-2008 and was later offered in Honduras as a regional course where students from 11 different countries participated and graduated. The 837th TRS team capped off the year by taking the course to the Dominican Republic. Today, the team is in Ecuador and will graduate a class of 14 NCOs in mid-March.
The course has allowed IAAFA and the Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., to strengthen their relationship. The Barnes Center shared the vision to bring enlisted professional development into Latin America and IAAFA's program allowed that to happen.
"We recently hosted a meeting with the Barnes Center to renew our memorandum of agreement and we are all ready to take this course to the next level," said Lt. Col. Carlos Vecino, 837th TRS Commander.
"We showed the Barnes Center what kind of impact this course is making in terms of building partnerships and building partner capacity in Latin America, and we are moving towards full accreditation and the inclusion of USAF NCOs."
Colonel Vecino added, "We graduated our first USAF Captains from our Inter-American Squadron Officer School this past summer and we will graduate another six this year. We are confident USAF NCO graduates are forthcoming and we will make significant progress toward developing international Airmen that are linguistically, culturally and regionally trained and educated to support Air Force, Department of Defense, and national objectives."
So despite the language differences, many Latin American NCOs now understand how the Air Force operates: how it trains, how it fights and how it wins. They understand that much is expected of an NCO, and as graduates of the INCOA they are ready to step up and join the fight with their Air Force counterparts.