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Afghan Air Force refocuses on Personal Accountability Inventory

  • Published
  • By Capt. Rob Leese
  • 438th AEW PAO
KABUL, Afghanistan --  Over the last six months, members of the Afghan Air Force and their NATO Air Training Command - Afghanistan advisors have been conducting a Personnel Accountability Inventory incorporating a Biometrics component to strengthen force accountability and enhance force protection for AAF and Coalition partners.

So far over 2,400 AAF members of the 4,000 have been processed and now, the second session of the PAI & biometrics to account for the rest of the remaining members began on Nov. 28.

Maj. Melissa Moon-Brown, NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan/438th Air Expeditionary Wing Personnel advisor stated, "The level of Afghan involvement has been insurmountable. Gen. Dawran, the AAF Commander and Gen. Barat, the AAF Kabul Wing Commander were among the first to have their biometric information collected."

The personal information gathered will be stored digitally with a picture, an iris scan, a thumbprint and cross-referenced for accuracy. When this is done, it means that the Afghan Air Force will have a full inventory of its people, with reliable data when needed.

Maj. Craig Nordskog, NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan/438th Air Expeditionary Wing Personnel advisor explained, "They have a system in place and we are just trying to strengthen it to get 100% accountability of the AAF."

The PAI team ideally consists of two people per computer that can process approximately 20 people per day. The AAF goal is to collect 120 personnel each day. A NATC-A advisor is also on hand to provide oversight for the program. They are currently averaging over 140 per day during the first three days of collection with a total of 429 members information collected.

The PAI consists of collecting both Administration and Biometrics inputs from the members. During the administration phase, the member's ID and personnel records and pay enrolment are checked. In the Biometrics phase, the member is finger printed, photographed and their iris is scanned.

"There is the potential to collect information on possible insurgents who have passed through the cracks. We will be able to link Afghans with their prior activities and the activities of people connected to them," stated Nordskog.

In early April, the Afghan National Army finalized their Personnel Information Management System fielding at the AAF which standardized and digitized approximately 2,450 AAF military personnel records. The AAF served as a test bed for the implementation of a human resource computer database at the Corps level.

With the PAI implementation, it will allow Ministry of Defense and commanders to accurately know who is in their formation as well as more efficiently, process the personnel actions such as leaves, awards, evaluations, AWOLs, and promotion boards.

The PAI will focus on the AAF headquarters in Kabul for the next three weeks, while conducting collections to the remaining 10 AAF locations over the course of the following weeks with a completion goal for the entire country of Dec 30.