Coalition General Celebrates Accomplishments Of Rebuilt
Force
Iraq's air force has added unprecedented personnel and aircraft
in recent months and undertaken crucial missions, the commander of
the Coalition Air Force Transition Team said this week in
Baghdad.
"Six months ago, there was no air force academy for the Iraqi
air force, there was no technical training school, there was no
basic training school for enlisted people," Air Force Brig Gen. Bob
Allardice told online journalists and "bloggers" during a
conference call from Iraq. "But in the last six months, we've
graduated and commissioned second lieutenants in their air
force."
Dozens of basic Iraqi airmen and technical support personnel
also graduated ground school during that time frame, the general
explained. In the past two months, 138 experienced aviators from
Iraq's pre-war air force have returned to serve, as well.
"This is a pretty big step for us," Allardice said.
In 1991, Iraq's air force was the sixth largest in the world,
the general explained. But in the course of Operation Desert Storm,
during which coalition forces pushed Saddam Hussein's troops out of
Kuwait, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, Iraq's air force was
obliterated.
"The Saddam era just wiped it out. There were no aircraft,"
Allardice said "The systems and processes that train and build an
air force, which is very complex, were completely wiped out, and
the people were scattered."
Rebuilding Iraq's air
force began only recently, the general explained, with the first
serious efforts undertaken in 2005.
"It wasn't until this year, 2007, where we really ramped up our
capability," he said.
In 2006, 16 Iraqi aircraft performed only about 30 "relatively
benign" sorties a week, Allardice said.
"The Iraqi air force today has about 1,200 people," he said.
"They have about 51 aircraft. They are flying 180 sorties a week,
and their missions are very impressive."
For example, last week, pilots aboard an Iraqi air force plane
fitted with intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance equipment
discovered smugglers who had punched holes in oil pipelines. "They
identified them, took pictures of them, tracked them, and ...
helped the Iraqi national police bring those people to justice,"
Allardice said.
Pilots flew that same aircraft last week over a massive march in
Karbala for a religious commemoration, when explosions and gunfire
erupted. "They were able to take video pictures of this from the
air," Allardice said. "They took the video and provided this to the
prime minister so that he would have timely information, so when
rumors started to fly, he actually was able to put this in the
right perspective."
At the same time, the Iraqi air force launched two of its
recently acquired Huey II helicopters to fly over the crowd and
assess the developing situation, the general explained.
As ANN reported, Iraqi
helicopter crews flew their first sortie without help of US forces
-- dubbed "Operation Power Line" -- on August 25.
Also last week, one of Iraq's C-130 transport ships airlifted
medical and humanitarian supplies to Sulaymaniyah, in northeastern
Iraq, where a cholera outbreak has sickened many residents.
"We did not partake in any of those flights. These were operated
by Iraqis by themselves," Allardice said. "When I looked back on
the week collectively, I thought it was a pretty neat thing."
Future Iraqi air force training will be ramp up exponentially,
the general said. By December 2008, he anticipates Iraqi pilots
will fly 800 sorties per week.
Allardice also said he sees the need to develop and train future
enlisted Iraqi air force leaders. "Clearly our vision is to build
an NCO corps," he said. "It's just not something we can do
overnight."
Acquiring expensive aircraft, like fighter jets, that could
eventually be used to defend Iraq's airspace will also take
considerable time and money, the general explained.
"You know, even in our country, if we acquire an airplane ... I
wish it were just as simple as I have a bag of money and I get to
buy an airplane," Allardice said. "But I have to follow a fairly
lengthy process that can take upwards to 12 to 18 months, and the
Iraqis have very similar issues."
Even with the very small Iraqi fleet in service, the general
said he is struck by the pride Iraq's air force inspires in its
citizens.
"When I'm on a Huey and that Huey flies over people and they see
the Iraqi flag, it will send chills down your spine to see how many
people get this huge smile on their face and start jumping up and
down and waving at the helicopter," Allardice said. "And when I
asked one of the Iraqi helicopter pilots, is it important for him
to fly, he actually got a tear in his eye when he said ... 'It's so
important for our people to see our flag flying around the
country.'"
(Aero-News thanks David Mays of the Pentagon
Channel.)