Romania, US partner to strengthen NATO

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Chad Warren
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
Members of the Romanian air force visited the 52nd Fighter Wing this week in the first of a series of engagements designed to assist Romania in standing up its first F-16 Fighting Falcon fighter squadron.

U.S. Airmen provided a familiarization tour encompassing several aspects of F-16 operations and support, allowing Romanian air force officials to begin building a framework for their own operations.

In October of 2013, Romania signed a contract to acquire 12 F-16 fighter aircraft from Portugal, starting the process of replacing their current fleet of Russian-built MiG-21s and giving Romania its first NATO-compatible fighter aircraft.

"The Romanian air force has not operated F-16s ever," said U.S. Air Force Col. Glen Lawson, Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation in Bucharest, Romania. "This is bringing them from the east to the west basically."

The idea is to leverage the U.S. lessons learned to help the Romanians as they expand their capabilities and lay the foundation of their F-16 program, said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ryan Frazier, Chief of International Affairs-Eastern Europe and country desk officer to Romania.

Romanian air force Col. Lian Somesan, Chief of Resources for the Romanian air force, stressed the importance of gaining experience from NATO allies, not only for the short term but for future partnerships as well.

"We are on the way to making some decisions regarding the infrastructure, and we don't want to reinvent the wheel," said Somesan. "We want to use the experience from our U.S. partners."

The forward-focused mission conducted at Spangdahlem makes it an ideal model for the Romanian air force during their transition to the F-16, said Lawson.

"It's a paradigm shift in the operations mentality, maintenance mentality, logistics mentality, airfield management mentality, across the spectrum of F-16 operations," Lawson said. "That's why Spangdahlem is so vital to this mission."

Romania's strategic location on the Black Sea, bordering Moldova, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Hungary and Serbia, makes the addition of these assets even more important to NATO and U.S capabilities in the region, said Lawson.

"This is your eastern edge, the eastern flank of NATO," Lawson said. "The acquisition of these aircraft is going to enhance the air defenses of the eastern flank of NATO."
"It's a huge step for Romania," added Somesan.