The Naval Education and Training Security Assistance Field Activity (NETSAFA) International Training Center (NITC) held a welcome reception for international students onboard Naval Air Station Pensacola Jan. 29.

The reception hosted 38 international military students from 28 countries whom are currently attending professional military education or specialty training courses through NITC.

“We hosted more than 350 international military students here in Pensacola last year, and the reception served as a fantastic opportunity for the NETSAFA staff to meet and get to know some the students that they directly or indirectly support,” said Cmdr. William Gibson, NITC officer in charge.

The reception not only benefited the NITC staff, but it allowed the international military students to get comfortable with their fellow counterparts and U.S. instructors.

“This is my second time in the United States,” said Chadian Air Force Lt. Ahmat Moustapha Ali, who is a student in the NITC’s Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education (MPT&E) course. “Training like this is important to enhance and strengthen our relationship with each other.”

MPT&E is a five-week course designed to provide attendees with an overview of the methodology used by the U.S. military to recruit, train, detail, retain and eventually retire officers and enlisted personnel.

MPT&E attendees often visit other commands outside the Pensacola area to reinforce the ideas taught in the classroom. This class visited Chief of Naval Personnel, Navy Recruiting Command and Navy Manpower Analysis Center at Naval Support Activity Mid-South, Millington, Tennessee.

“The training here has been invaluable,” said Ali. “We have no specific system in Chad for promotion and advancement. I had the opportunity to see the selection board process in Millington. I hope to take what I saw there back to Chad.”

The reception also included 15 representatives from the Gulf Coast Citizen Diplomacy Council, a non-partisan organization whose mission is to create and encourage collaboration between like-minded community stakeholders who value sharing the Gulf Coast with the rest of the world.

International students in attendance represented: Botswana, Chad, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, Indonesia, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Lithuania, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mauritius, Oman, Philippines, Poland, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Vietnam and Zambia.

The United States has trained more than one million international military students since 2000, and has 234 international military students currently training in the Pensacola area.

“Foreign military training has always been vital to the United States,” said Capt. David Stallworth, NETSAFA commanding officer. “It remains one of the most effective tools to advance U.S. national security by ensuring stronger and more capable allies and partners.”

NETSAFA is the U.S. Navy's agent for international education and training that coordinates training support to international governments and international organizations. As a field activity of Naval Education and Training Command, NETSAFA serves as a focal point for all security assistance training program issues, coordination and advice within the U.S. Navy.

NITC provides U.S. Navy training and education in support of the requirements of our international partners and allies. For more about NITC, visit https://www.netsafa.navy.mil/NITC/Default.htm.

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