U.S. general: Afghan air force 5 years away from combat missions

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U.S. general: Afghan air force 5 years away from combat missions
By Jeff Schogol, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, January 25, 2008

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Afghan air force is about five years away from being able to conduct combat missions, said the commander who is tasked with getting the nascent Afghan air force off the ground.

Right now, U.S. efforts at building the Afghan air force are focused on giving the Afghans more mobility, said Brig. Gen. Jay Lindell, commander of Combined Air Power Transition Force.

The reason why the U.S. is not training the Afghans to fly both transport and combat missions is the Afghan National Army Air Corps simply does not have enough pilots to do both, Lindell told reporters on Thursday.

The Afghan air force has about 180 pilots, of which about 50 are flying on any given day, Lindell said. Some of the pilots who are flying are being taken off the flying schedule to learn English.

While that is enough pilots to fly transport missions, the average age of Afghan pilots is 43, and many will face mandatory retirement soon, he explained.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51897