Belgian Military Staff Academy students tour 87 AW, EC, CRW

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Gustavo Gonzalez
  • 621st Contingency Response Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. - --  For the fifth time, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst hosted a tour for students attending the Belgian Military Staff Academy, June 25-26.

Approximately 67 student officers, from Maj.'s to Lt. Col.'s, representing 19 different countries were in attendance for this event. The year-long class ends with a tour that included JBMDL and additional trips to New York, N.Y., the United Nations, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and Norfolk, Va., giving the students the opportunity to experience different joint environments and exchange ideas.

"Most of all, we're here to see the similarities and differences of processes and how we can find a solution to it," said Maj. Patrick De Smedp, Belgium Embassy coordinator. "Perhaps you have problems you had in the past, found answers to it, and we'd like to see how your managing your problems."

The tour kicked off with an ice breaker and tour at the 621st Contingency Response Wing's Global Reach Deployment Center. They received a mission brief on the 621st Contingency Response Wing along with a capabilities demonstration. Additionally, they received an Air Advisor Academy brief and ended with an office call with Maj. Gen. Martin and mission brief of the roles and functions of the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center. They also toured the 305th Air Mobility Wing.

"What we've done is set up a few different capabilities demonstrations, tours, and lectures to kind of give them a broad overview of some of the variety of missions that the Air Force does here," said Capt. Patrick Sheehan, 818 Mission Support Advisory Squadron plans flight commander and trip coordinator for the visit.

According to Sheehan, he is expecting future tours with the Belgian Academy to continue to go as well as the ones in the past.

"They're great," he said. "We're happy to have them here and we look forward to having them visit next year as well."