MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- For the 10th anniversary of the Air University Language, Regional Expertise, and Culture Symposium, 5-7 November, the Air Force Culture and Language Center will celebrate a decade of warfighter readiness, strengthening strategic partnerships worldwide, and prioritizing interoperability by enabling coalitions with enhanced capabilities, new operating concepts, and collaborative-force planning.
With joint, international, and industry partners being critical to current and future success, it all begins here.
“Things are changing for the LREC community,” AFCLC Director Howard Ward said. “The successes of the last 10 years are not going to meet everything that the nation is going to require of us in the next 10 years. We are at an important inflection point where the nature of operations is evolving, and it’s imperative that we evolve as well to keep pace. The formula simply does not work if we cannot connect linguistically to our strategic partners to train to a common standard to achieve speed.”
This year’s symposium theme, “LREC10: Celebrating Excellence and Inspiring Innovation,” will use Microsoft Teams as a virtual delivery platform and will offer expert insights, strategies, and connections across the U.S. Department of Defense, academia, and partner nations. Multiple channels will offer something for everyone, including a variety of topics, panels, and featured speakers.
FEATURED SPEAKERS
Maj. Gen. Steven Behmer is the Deputy Commander, Ninth Air Force, Air Forces Central Command, Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. As the Deputy Commander at Shaw AFB, he oversees the execution of contingency plans across a 21-nation area of responsibility and manages headquarters posturing in garrison to ensure operational readiness.
Maj. Gen. David A. Mineau is the Commander, Air Forces Southern at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. As the Air Force component to United States Southern Command, Air Forces Southern conducts security cooperation and provides air, space, and cyberspace capabilities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. Air Forces Southern supports U.S. Southern Command to deter aggression, defeat threats, rapidly respond to crises, and work with allies and partner nations to build regional capacity to ensure a secure, free, and prosperous Western Hemisphere.
Brig. Gen. William “Clay” Freeman is the Director of Operations, Headquarters Air Force, Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Florida. In this role, he prepares and supervises operations for the Command’s 20,000 special operations warfighters and nine wings, executing missions around the world.
Ambassador (Ret.) Eric P. Whitaker is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service with 34 years of experience, retiring at the rank of Minister-Counselor. He most recently served as Chargé d’affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Burkina Faso in 2024 and previously led the U.S. Embassy in Niger from 2017–2021, where he advanced democracy, development, and security initiatives, including a $437 million Millennium Challenge Compact. Over the course of his career, Ambassador Whitaker held senior diplomatic posts across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, and served as a Foreign Policy Advisor to U.S. military leadership in Djibouti. He has received more than 20 U.S. Department of State awards, the U.S. Department of Defense Meritorious Civilian Honor Award, and was named a Commander in the Order of Merit of Niger. A committed mentor and advocate for education, he has established multiple scholarship funds supporting future leaders.
Chief Master Sgt. Kathleen McCool is the Command Chief for U.S. Pacific Air Forces at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii. Chief McCool is the first female Command Chief of PACAF and serves 46,000 Airmen while advising the Commander, Pacific Air Forces, on readiness, training, professional development, personnel, and resources. Before joining PACAF, she was Command Chief at Second Air Force, Keesler Air Force Base in Mississippi; Fifth Air Force, Yokota Air Base, Japan; 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri; and 53d Wing, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.
Chief Master Sgt. Rajab Y. Kigembe is the Senior Enlisted Leader, S6 Directorate, Space Systems Command at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California. Space Systems Command is the U.S. Space Force field command responsible for acquiring, developing, and delivering resilient capabilities to outpace emerging threats and protect our nation’s strategic advantage in, from, and to space. In this capacity, he serves as the principal advisor to the Command’s Senior Cyber Officer and supervises the directorate’s manning, operations, and administrative processes, encompassing an 85-member team of military, civilians, and contractors across various cyber specialties, providing Cybersecurity, Digital Engineering, Cyber Strategy, Technology Insertion, and Roadmap Execution for Space Systems Command and the United States Space Force.
For more information about speakers and to register, visit the LREC10 Symposium website at www.airuniversity.af.edu/AFCLC/AU-LREC.