by Charles Simmins

Created on: June 09, 2009   Last Updated: June 16, 2009

After the Russian invasion, the Taliban takeover and the long civil war, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has many needs. The United States and its NATO allies, through the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), are working to assist the freely elected national government. Security is the number one priority for everyone concerned. The rebuilding of the Afghan military is underway.

The Afghan Army Air Corps has a history that dates to the 1920's. Its equipment and personnel were scattered by the war years but the Air Corps is now in operation and conducting missions.

In structure, the Air Corps is the sixth corps of the Afghan National Army. The first five corps are ground troops. Currently the Air Corps has about 2,500 personnel with plans to grow to 7,250 by 2016. It has 35 aircraft and over 180 trained pilots.

The Air Corps is made up of one wing, with three squadrons, fixed wing, rotary wing and Presidential airlift. Detachments have been detailed to airfields in the north and south to support the ANA corps operating in those regions. With the Afghan National Police primarily acting in an anti-terrorist role, the Corps is also assigned to support their operations.

At this time the, Air Corps moves troops and supplies using the AN-32 transport and the MI-17 helicopter. The Corps is in the process of bringing into service 9 MI-24's, the Hind Attack Helicopter. Six of these were donated by the Czech Republic and the other three were Afghani and refurbished. The Czechs are also providing instructor pilots and technical advisers for the Hinds.

Adding an attack and ground support capability is important to the Afghanis. While the Air Corps can move Afghan troops and police and supply them via airlift, they must currently rely upon NATO and the United States for air to ground attack needs.

Afghanistan is the size of the state of Texas. Its roads are poor and often threatened with terrorist attack. There is little rail capacity. Having an air force is vital to the nation. Air power is an asymmetric capability. The national government has it and the terrorist enemy does not.

The Air Corps was recreated on the foundation of those Afghan pilots from decades ago who were willing to rejoin the military. The aircraft used as the basis for the Air Corps were those that these experienced pilots were most familiar flying. The United States is currently training 24 new Afghan pilots and another 25 will soon follow them to facilities in the U.S. This fall, a new aircraft, the C-27, is expected to be added to the Air Corps inventory.

A typical week for the Afghan Army Air Corps saw it conduct 105 missions, moving 2,000 troops, 4,000 kilograms of cargo and provide six medical evacuations of AN security forces. During recent flooding in northern Afghanistan, the Air Corps made some 1,200 helicopter rescues.

Brig. Gen. Walter D. Givhan, commanding general, Combined Air Power Transition Force, is the chief American adviser to the Afghan Army Air Corps. He stated in a recent interview that "building indigenous capacity is absolutely key to fighting and winning against an insurgency".

He is very excited about the abilities of the Corps and the work that they are currently able to do. He also was quick to stress that building bases and logistical capability was ongoing and as important as the aircraft. Givhan told us that "the most effective way to fight this insurgency is to enable the Afghans to fight it themselves. And that's what this is all about, is creating Afghan capacity and capability to do that."

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