Coalition members visit Liberty Wing Published Feb. 11, 2009 By Senior Airman Kristopher Levasseur 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England -- Twenty-four allied forces representatives and key industry members from 10 different countries to include Canada, the United States and the Netherlands visited RAF Lakenheath for briefings and combat simulations Feb. 10, as a pre-conference site visit for the Military Flight Training 2009 conference in London. The Military Flight Training conference was established in 2002 to provide valuable content and training for allied nations leadership and aircrews. "I think it is important for us to work with other countries because all of the visitors are from allied countries and this visit can help us understand how we all train our aircrew," said Maj. Adam Palmer, 48th Operations Squadron assistant director of operations. "This will increase interoperability and help ensure coalition countries will have similar training and similar skill sets when we fight together." Major Palmer added that while they are here, they will be receiving a briefing on the F-15E and F-15C as well as a chance to fly in the flight simulators. "The simulator ride was great," said Ms. Joan Friesen, Boeing business developer for T-45 trainers. "It made me wonder how close the simulator is to flying actual aircraft." In addition to the simulator flight, the group had a chance to witness practices and procedures for flying operations at RAF Lakenheath. "It was great to see our products functioning as they were made to do," said Ms. Friesen. "It allows us to see how they are being used so we can plan for the future."