The Afghan National Army Air Corps

One of the missions that the NATO forces fighting in Afghanistan are conducting is the re-establishment of the Afghan National Army Air Corps (ANAAC). BG Michael R. Boera is in charge of the Combined Air Power Transition Force, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan.

General Boera talked with me and other bloggers recently about the success of this mission, and the progress that remains to be made.

Re-establishing the ANAAC is a critical part of the overall goal of having the Afghan government take over security operations within its own country. General Boera talked about this as he discussed the various steps needed to bring the force into being after being dissolved for decades.

The General provided the following numbers: The Afghan Army Air Corps currently has 46 aircraft.

For rotary wing operations it flies the Russian MI-17 and the MI-35. The MI-35, called the "Hind" by NATO, is used for ground support of combat operations and is a formidable attack helicopter. The MI-17 is used to haul supplies and personnel.

Winged aircraft consist of 6 old AN-32's and 3 "new", refurbished C-27 aircraft. The C-27 fleet will replace the older Antonovs, and it will consist of 20 aircraft. These aircraft haul supplies and personnel. The C-27 allows the ANAAC to fly into airfields without control towers and to fly at night or in heavy weather because it has GPS capability.

There are currently about 3,000 Afghans serving in the ANAAC, which is officially one of the corps of the Afghan Army. By 2016, the goal is to grow to 8,000 personnel and 140 to 150 aircraft.

Boera talked about the organization of the Air Corps. It presently has two air wings. The first is located in Kabul along with the headquarters for the Air Corps. Its infrastructure is about 75% complete.

The second air wing is in Kandahar, and that infrastructure is under construction. A third air wing is about to be stood up, in Shin Dan. That wing will host the training facilities and schools for the Afghan National Army Air Corps by 2012.

General Boera brought up an old Afghan saying "Sometimes one must listen to the mountains". It is a way of explaining the process in Afghanistan, where patience is necessary. Along with the Afghanis' native caution, the literacy issue is a problem for this mission. The pilots and many of the other personnel of the ANAAC must speak English to be in sync with the international flying community.

The ANAAC is flying its own missions, he told us. Part of the NATO training effort is establishing procedures and practices for planning missions and for prioritizing them. Current missions, according to Boera, are often generated by a phone call from Kabul rather than through a process.