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Safety first for Senegalese AF, AMC air advisors

  • Published
  • By 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs
DAKAR, Senegal --  Four air advisors assigned to a safety traveling contact team from the 818th Mobility Support Advisory Squadron began a week-long trip to Dakar, Senegal, from July 27 to August 3, 2013.

The air advisors, deployed from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., focused on safety topics including crew resource management, operational risk engagement, guidance for fire and emergency services, airfield safety, response safety, foreign object damage and bird hazards. Thirty-three personnel from the Senegalese Air Force attended the safety discussions.

"Safety is an aspect that can be applied to all career fields," said Lt. Col. John Scott, 818th MSAS operations officer and team leader. "Safe practices are paramount to sustained operations. Sustainment is a fundamental principle of building partnership capacity."

According to Lt. Col. Papa Loum, Senegalese Air Force Chef de Corps, safety is an important aspect of every mission yet it is something that's hard to measure.

"If you have safety, you will not see outcomes," Loum said. "If you do not have safety, you will have something happen that is very costly. That is why safety is such a challenge."

This is the third mission the 818th MSAS has conducted with the Senegalese Air Force. The last visit in May discussed disaster relief contingency planning.

"The success of our recent mission in Senegal is a reflection of the 818th MSAS's unique capability to provide air mobility advisory and training assistance in support of the Air Force goals of building partnerships and partnership capacity," said Lt. Col. Pete Larsen, 818th MSAS commander.

The MSAS is a tailorable, expeditionary organization established to conduct building partnerships and building partner capacity engagements at partner nation locations where air mobility operational support is non-existent or insufficient. The core capabilities that define the MSAS is command and control, air operations, aerial port and aircraft maintenance.