site.btaPresident Radev Meets with Air War College Representatives

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev and USAF Air War College representatives Wednesday discussed the relationship between political objectives and the strategies developed on their basis, the study and analysis of strategic and operational aspects in contemporary military conflicts, the President's press secretariat said. The meeting was attended by US Ambassador Kenneth Merten.

The strategic partnership between Bulgaria and the US and the modernization of the Bulgarian Armed Forces were on the agenda of the meeting.

Radev conferred the President's Badge of Honour on Air War College Instructor Col. Eric Peterson. He presented an emblem plaque on behalf of the Air War College in recognition of Radev's support for the college's security research programme.

In late November 2023, Radev conferred with former US military attache Col. David Wilmot and US Air Force pilot Col. Jose Monteagudo and said that when he was commander of the Graf Ignatievo Air Base, his colleagues and he launched a transformation of the air force training model. "[15 years later] The foundation and advanced standards of aircrew training we laid then are now established practice," Radev said on Facebook at the time.

Radev graduated with honors from the Air War College in Maxwell AFB in the United States in 2003, earning a Master's Degree in Strategic Studies.