AFA Partners with French Center for Strategic Aerospace Studies

Arlington, Va. — The Air & Space Forces Association and the Centre d’Études Stratégiques Aérospatiales (also known as CESA, part of the French Air and Space Force) signed a memorandum of understanding committing the two institutions to mutually benefitting their members. 

AFA President & CEO Lt. Gen. Burt Field, USAF (Ret.), joined CESA’s Director, French Brig. Gen. Jean-Patrice Le Saint, at a signing ceremony September 17 during AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference.   

“AFA and CESA both are committed to ensuring dominant Air and Space forces. In advocacy as in conflict, there is strength in numbers. Partnerships like this help us expand our message across the free world,” Field said.  

Attending the signing ceremony were AFA Chair of the Board Brig. Gen. Bernie Skoch, USAF (Ret.), AFA Executive Vice President Maj. Gen. Doug Raaberg, USAF (Ret.), and French Col. Julien Resplandy, Air Attaché to the French Embassy in Washington, D.C.  

The Centre d’Études Stratégiques Aérospatiales, headquarted in Paris, was founded in 1945, the year before AFA was created, and is part of the French Air and Space Force under France’s Ministry of Defense, It is responsible for strategic thinking on the applications of aerospace power and for promoting its tangible and intangible heritage.  

Resplandy said he hoped AFA and CESA can mutually shape the strategic thinking around each country’s air and space forces through mutual studies and researcher exchanges.  

About AFA  

The Air & Space Forces Association is an independent, non-profit 501(c)3 association dedicated to advocating for investment and support for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, and for supporting Airmen, Guardians, and their Families. Founded in 1946, AFA is the single largest entity of its kind focused on air and space power. With more than 120,000 members and 200 chapters spread around the world, our mission is to promote dominant U.S. Air and Space Forces as the foundation of a strong National Defense; to honor and support Airmen, Guardians, and their Families; and to remember and respect the enduring heritage of the Air and Space Forces.