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Afghan Airpower provides "lift" to Afghan Army

  • Published
  • By Capt. Rob Leese
  • 438th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs officer
KABUL, Afghanistan --  Last week, the Afghan Air Force supported the Afghan National Army's 207th Mechanized Brigade by transporting them from the plains of Herat to the mountainous town of Chakhcharan.

The ANA soldiers were unable to drive due to the hazardous snow-covered roads through the Hindu Kush Mountains. On short notice, the AAF pilots worked hard to support the ANA and make the mission successful.

During this joint operation, International Security Assistance Force and AAF crews moved over 63,000 lbs of cargo, including six pallets of food and ammunition as well as 150 ANA troops to Chakhcharan throughout the four day operation.

Lt. Col. C. Mike Smith, NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan /538th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron commander stated, "The Afghan Air Force C-27A Spartan transport aircraft continue to do amazing things for the Afghan people. Specifically, the Afghan aircrew continues to find ways to impress us and get the job done. At one point, it was the AAF that led the way by flying through some bad weather that had grounded the ISAF aircraft."

The AAF C-27 aircrew, which consisted of two Afghan pilots, one Afghan loadmaster and three NATC-A advisors, braved multiple hazards to include bad weather, a closed primary runway and were forced to land on a high-elevation, snow covered dirt runway.

Capt. Larry Needham, lead NATC-A advisor for the mission explained, "Bottom line, the mission was a complete success and the Afghan Air Force worked shoulder to shoulder with its coalition partners."