Posted on 05/05/2019 6:20:48 AM PDT by robowombat
Afghan Air Force pilot training program in US ends after nearly half go AWOL
WASHINGTON – The Pentagon quietly ended a program to train Afghan Air Force pilots in the United States after nearly half of the course attendees disappeared, according to a Defense Department watchdog report released this week.
More than 40 percent of the Afghan pilots sent to train on the AC-208 Combat Caravan lightweight reconnaissance aircraft went absent without leave while in the United States, according to a quarterly report of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR. The report, which was released Tuesday, did not detail precisely how many Afghan pilots deserted the training program, which has been conducted at the Fort Worth Meacham Airport in Texas.
One class of Afghan aviators successfully completed the course in the United States, according to the report. Two subsequent classes have been suspended. Their pilots – the ones who did not desert – have already been sent back to Afghanistan, where they will continue training on Cessna-built aircraft capable of carrying Hellfire missiles, which has been used in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan.
article continues below related articles An Afghan pilot practices flying one of Afghanistan's new UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters at Kandahar Air Field on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2017.
Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes Afghanistan’s Black Hawk program is short of pilots to fly them The family of Afghan flight engineer Mahboobulhaq Safi, 30, keep photos of their loved one, who was one of the most highly trained airmen in the Afghan air force and was assassinated on Aug. 27, 2018.
J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes Assassins threaten multibillion-dollar US efforts to keep Afghan airmen flying
The U.S. Air Force will also end another training program next year for Afghan pilots in the United States, according to the report. Training for Afghan pilots to fly the A-29 Super Tucano light attack aircraft will move to Afghanistan in late 2020, SIGAR reported.
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That training has been conducted at Moody Air Force Base, just outside Valdosta, Ga. While the program has also been plagued by desertions, SIGAR reported it will be disbanded because enough Afghan pilots will have been trained to fly that aircraft by that time.
In 2015, two Afghan pilots assigned to Moody disappeared, launching a manhunt. At least one of the missing men was later found in Virginia. Three other Afghan servicemembers who were reported missing in 2014 from a training exercise in Cape Cod, Mass., were apprehended in Niagara Falls, N.Y., as they attempted to enter Canada, officials said at the time.
Training for Afghan pilots on the A-29 was expected to continue in Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan after the program at Moody is concluded, SIGAR reported.
As of February, the United States has spent about $8.4 billion to support and develop the Afghan Air Force, including providing 170 aircraft, according to SIGAR. To date, the Afghan Air Force has 119 fully qualified pilots and dozens more in training.
I didn’t know Anne Coulter was Afghanistan
8.4 billion spent “training” Afghan AF deserters would build a long wall against Mexican invaders.
Obola approves that spending!
I agree. It’s way past time to get out of that Stone Age pest hole.
...step by step...
;-) !!
Woof!
That would make sense if the goal was to train Afgan pilots. The program was actually a financial transfer of taxpayer funds to politically connected defense contractors. Air flight is an optional side effect.
....”Call it defecting, going AWOL, or whatever - the future seems brighter elsewhere”......
If they’re sharp enough to pilot train here they’re going to surely find a way to survive in the US undetected.
““As of February, the United States has spent about $8.4 billion to support and develop the Afghan Air Force,”
$8.4 billion would build a hell of a lot of wall.
Yes, $8.4 billion would buy a heck of a lot of wall, or it would surely help our homeless vets an awful lot. But I must agree, BUILD THE WALL FIRST!
That is something that cannot be argued, jz638. Not one bit.
We used to have a golden retriever, and my mother used to crouch down and slowly walk towards the dog with her arms outstretched saying in a low voice “SLOWLY I turned...step...by step...” and the dog would crouch low on its haunches and wiggle backwards growling in fun as it did so!
She got to the point, all she had to do was say in that tone “SLOWLY...” and the dog, even from a deep sleep, would get right on her haunches on the ground and begin to playfully growl and crawl backwards!
I loved it...it was funny to watch. As soon as she would say it, the shape of the dog’s eyes would change and dart from side to side (owners of golden retrievers would recognize this instantly...:)
Was this a hint?
Drop in the bucket as it turned out...
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