AFDAG unanimously votes for Building Partnerships doctrine Published June 5, 2009 By Capt. Jennifer Lovett LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- The LeMay Center hosted the bi-annual Air Force Doctrine Advisory Group in May which resulted in a first for the Department of Defense--doctrine for Building Partnerships. "The AFDAG prioritizes efforts and direction for Air Force doctrine," said Col. Russ "Rudder" Smith, director of doctrine development. "We bring together a diverse group of doctrine experts from around the Air Force to debate issues and provide recommendations to keep our doctrine current and relevant. This AFDAG resulted in a major positive event for the Air Force." That event was a proposal by the Secretary of the Air Force International Affairs Office to write doctrine for Building Partnerships. "BP doctrine will lay the foundation for building relationships with other nations," said Colonel Smith. "Airmen are already doing this mission throughout the world by assisting with foreign internal defense, security assistance, acquisitions, procurement, military exchange programs and humanitarian aid. " The IA office made its case to the AFDAG and it was accepted unanimously. "Now the Air Force, through the LeMay Center, will lead the DoD in incorporating BP into military doctrine," said Colonel Smith. "The United States can provide support across the spectrum to other nations," said Lt. Col. Fred McNeil, chief of doctrine development and education. "That alone makes us an a la carte contention for other nations and is the very core of Building Partnerships. And in the Air Force, for example, we provide wargames in Australia and the Netherlands, medical care in Africa and aviation exchanges and seminars. These are missions we have been doing for years but now with the doctrine, we are codifying all the lessons learned and best practices into one publication." The Air Force has become so focused on BP that it is now incorporated into the 12 Service Corps Functions. "We want to ensure that our Airmen have the latest emerging operational issues to help them be more effective for the mission," said Colonel Smith. BP was an emerging issue that made the forefront of doctrine news during the Air Force's first BP Symposium held at Maxwell's LeMay Center in March. "We came away with the understanding that the Air Force needs a good definition of BP and it needs BP doctrine," said Maj. Aaron Taliaferro, BP attendee from Secretary of the Air Force International Affairs Directorate. "(The symposium) was able to create holistic, overarching soup-to-nuts definition that once incorporated into doctrine will be beneficial for the practitioner on the ground." Part of the symposium's objective was to identify BP doctrinal issues and recommendations for the AFDAG.