Arlington, Virginia | October 4, 2023

On October 4, Lt Gen Dave Deptula, USAF (Ret.), Dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, spoke at the annual Royal Air Force (RAF) Diaspora Update Conference, which brings together RAF officers stationed across the United States in positions working alongside the U.S. Air Force, Space Force, Department of Defense, and other military services. This event provides an opportunity for RAF officers to network with colleagues and receive strategic-level briefings from senior RAF, USAF, and USSF leaders.

Gen Deptula briefed the group of over 50 RAF officers on the historical challenges facing the U.S. Air Force in a time of increased operational demands and global threats, as well as the necessity to resource its strategy and modernization adequately. He emphasized the ways in which these challenges are reflected on both sides of the Atlantic. In particular, he expressed that close partnership and collaboration between the U.S. Air Force and RAF are vital to the continued security and prosperity of both nations.

Gen Deptula stated, “Our partnership has persisted since even before the birth of the U.S. Air Force in 1947, and it remains the ultimate guarantor of global security and prosperity. When we fly into the future fight, it will be as a united coalition team.”