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U.S. Airmen and civilians assigned to Ramstein Air Base hosted the Defense Threat Reduction Agency team for the Vienna Document Evaluation Exercise, Aug.12-13. The document’s purpose is to strengthen open and transparent communication between the U.S. and its partners.
The Vienna Document Treaty exercise tested the capabilities of organizations to communicate the mission and capabilities to agencies outside of the U.S. The exercise hosted representatives from U.S. Air Force in Europe – Air Forces Africa, the 86th Airlift Wing and the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing to demonstrate daily activities at the base, per the requirements of the Vienna Document.
“This was the first Vienna Document Evaluation Exercise conducted on Ramstein, and it was also the first arms control event here in years,” said David Esch, USAFE-AFAFRICA treaty compliance officer. “The activities we did were exactly what you would expect to see in a real-world evaluation.”
The Vienna Document is an annual requirement for the Third Air Force and USAFE-AFAFRICA anchored in data exchange, observation of military facilities and technologies and people. It is an arms control training focused on diplomatic conversation of base capabilities for the community and its respective areas of responsibilities. It may be a real possibility that Ramstein on short notice must host foreign evaluators and thus quickly coordinate logistical support.
In preparation, Ramstein AB executed a simulated country visit to share their mission capabilities and impact.
“This exercise allowed us to move beyond simply understanding the requirements on paper and practice how we would execute them in a real-world environment,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Lance Cuevas, 86th AW Programs and Planning Office superintendent. “Through coordination and collaboration among USAFE-AFAFRICA, DTRA, the 86th AW and the 435th AGOW, we were able to establish a common understanding of expectations, practice presenting and demonstrating our missions, and identify areas where we can improve before a real-world evaluation.”
To increase realism, the exercise incorporated a language barrier where evaluators solely spoke foreign language and their national-level escorts served as interpreters. Other elements included attentiveness around base security, logistical challenges with hosting a foreign evaluation team on base and operational security to ensure no risk of release of sensitive information.
Both observers and evaluators provided near-real-time feedback, ensuring the employment of the Vienna Document Evaluation meets its goals.
“My biggest takeaway was the increased awareness and understanding the exercise created across the participating organizations,” Cuevas expressed. “We gained insight into the types of questions evaluators may ask, including some we had not previously considered. That feedback and experience will help us refine our processes and be better prepared for future evaluations.”
USAFE-AFAFRICA organized the event in coordination with the wings to train service members and promote awareness for the requirements under the Vienna Document.
By visiting the 86th Civil Engineer Squadron Fire and Emergency Services Flight, 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, 86th CES dorm lodging, 786th Force Support Squadron Rheinland Inn Dining Facility, and the 435th Contingency Response Group’s 1st Combat Communications Squadron, and 435th Tactical Advisory Squadron enabled the success of the exercise.
“We were largely building the readiness program from the ground-up, and it required careful coordination with stakeholders from across the base. I believe all the hard work paid off, and we have done a lot to ensure readiness when the time comes to host our foreign partners,” Esch said.
Vienna Document Exercise plans to build upon the complexity by adding host-nation and other foreign partners in the future to initiate further collaboration.
