The summit marked the first formal integration of U.S. Air Force Engineers and U.S. Navy Seabees leadership in a focused forum aimed at synchronizing infrastructure planning, strengthening readiness, and enhancing joint interoperability. The event marked a significant step in advancing integrated engineer operations to ensure a secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific and aligns with the Department of Defense’s broader mission to achieve peace through strength by investing in readiness, resilience, and rapid response infrastructure.

Col. Kevin Osborne, PACAF Command Civil Engineer and Capt. John Beattie, Deputy Fleet Civil Engineer, opened the week by outlining recent accomplishments and emphasizing future alignment across the services. “This summit is significant—it’s the first time we’ve had Air Force and Navy engineers come together like this to collaborate on shared challenges across the theater," Beattie said. “We’re all looking at the same problems, and this gives us a chance to align, integrate, and identify capabilities we need for the future fight.”

Air Vice Marshal Carl Newman, PACAF deputy commander of the Royal Australian Air Force, also joined the opening session to reinforce the importance of regional ally partnerships and building capabilities to support the warfighter.

The Indo-Pacific theater is unique, both in its challenges and opportunities. With so many capabilities sharing space in the theater, the event’s cross-functional discussions focused on the importance of aligning mission-sets and priorities. Participants also focused on deliberate theater posturing, civil engineer readiness, logistics agility, and infrastructure resiliency.

Peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region remain a top priority for the United States and its partner and allies. In a contended and rapidly evolving region, civil engineers play a pivotal role in building, rebuilding, and maintaining key infrastructure to allow for ease of operations across vast distances. Through forward-deployed personnel, pre-positioned materiel, and targeted construction efforts, civil engineers are shaping the battlespace to ensure mission success. The work directly contributes to the Department’s commitment to keeping America safe, fielding the most lethal force on the planet, and fighting and winning wars.



A critical aspect of the engagement was dedicated breakout groups designed to break down barriers across functional groups. The breakouts were focused on two key topics: Readiness and Infrastructure. The Department of Defense is building to match threats to capabilities, a feat that heavily leans on a ready force and reliable infrastructure.

“What we saw this week during the breakout group was that good ideas did not only come from the person who prepared the brief,” Lt. Col. Craig Poulin, Deputy Chief, PACAF/A4CP, said. “Good ideas came from the people that talked to each other and had that moment where they realized their challenge was solved by someone else in the room.”

A theme that echoed throughout the summit was that the warfighting environment is constantly evolving as new leaders, new technology, and new threats emerge. Engineers are natural problem solvers; they seek to rise to and conquer new challenges. Leaders in attendance worked together to identify the future of interoperability in the Indo-Pacific theater, with an ultimate goal to strengthen deterrence to advance a shared vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region.

“It's not about the Air Force doing Air Force things, the Navy doing the Navy things,” Poulin said. “It's about the Air Force, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the Army, our other supporting organizations, and partner nations working together.”

The summit underscored the value of interservice collaboration and innovation. “At the end of the day, we’re all engineers out here trying to work together—across services, across specialties—to make sure we’re ready when it counts,” Col. Eric Figiera, Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, A3, said.

Bringing together diverse engineering experts, the event fostered cross-service dialogue. The emphasis on readiness, infrastructure, and interoperability highlighted the critical need for integrated military operations in the Indo-Pacific.

“We're passionate about being engineers. We're passionate about setting the theater. Our time is now,” Osborne said.