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Air Combat Commander Visits Afghan Air Force

  • Published
  • By MC1 (AW) Elizabeth Burke
  • 438th AEW PA
KABUL, Afghanistan --  General William M. Fraser III, commander of Air Combat Command, visited the Combined Air Power Transition Force mentors and Afghan Air Force leadership at the Afghan Air Force base in Kabul on July 23, 2010.

General Fraser, Lt. Gen. Michael Hostage, U.S. Air Forces Central commander, and staff members met with the new Eagles for Afghanistan, Afghan Air Force 2nd Lieutenants, and toured the Thunder Lab, an English immersion program designed to teach Afghan Air Force pilot candidates English and western culture before they go to the United States for pilot training.

General Fraser was briefed on their daily schedule and visited their living quarters. He toured both the fixed and rotary wing flight simulators where he took a turn at the controls of the rotary wing simulator. He was also briefed on the professional and officership courses taught by the CAPTF mentors.

Following the tour of the Thunder Lab, General Fraser held an "all call" with the joint service members of the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing/CAPTF.

He thanked them for their service and took questions from the group.

"I am extremely impressed with the progress that has been made. It is a total team effort and I can see where the progress that you have made as a team since my last visit," said General Fraser. "It takes everybody, every single person pulling their weight to make a difference. It's not something that only I have recognized. You need to know that I've heard positive stories from our sister services about what you are doing here. Keep up the good work. We all really appreciate it."

The 438th Air Expeditionary Wing is the home of more than 550 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Civilians currently mentoring, training, and assisting over 3,400 members of the AAF.