US, SL Pacific Airlift Rally 2011 kicks off in Ratmalana

Pacific Airlift Rally 2011, co-hosted by the US and Sri Lanka Air Forces, will take place at Ratmalana Airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Pacific Airlift Rally (PAR) is a biennial, military airlift symposium sponsored by U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) for states in the Asia-Pacific region. This year marks the eighth iteration of the PAR exercise series which began in 1997.

PAR 11 will focus on enhancing airlift interoperability among 21 regional militaries in support of multilateral humanitarian assistance/disaster relief (HA/DR) operations.

Exercise-related events include informational seminars and expert briefings, a command post exercise that addresses military airlift support required during natural disasters, and a field training exercise that builds upon the command post exercise.

Tabletop exercise participants include: Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Canada, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Maldives, Malaysia, Mongolia, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, United States and Vietnam. (Brunei’s participation has not been confirmed.)

Field training exercise participation will include three United States Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft from the 374th Airlift Wing at Yokota Airlift Wing, Japan; and one C-130 each from the Royal Malaysian Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and the Sri Lanka Air Force.