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Afghan leaders celebrate newest air force officer candidate school at ceremony

  • Published
  • By Capt. Eydie Sakura
  • 438th Air Expeditionary Wing
KABUL, Afghanistan --  Approximately 189 Afghan Air Force cadets began their year-long officer candidate school training at Pohantoon-e-Hawayee (PeH), or Afghan Air Academy, during a ceremony here in early September.

The Afghan OCS program focuses on English language, leadership and aviation studies. The cadets will fill required slots for the AAF in various air force careers in maintenance, flight engineering and pilots.

“This class of air cadets is the wish of the Afghan people,” said the Afghan National Army first deputy of the general chief of staff through an interpreter. “We recruited more than 200 students for this new class to [do jobs] that are very important. We are very thankful, especially to Americans and Coalition forces, for their [assistance to getting us to this point].”

The 189 cadets are the third class to attend PeH. The second class, which has roughly 50 students, will graduate in October 2015 after a year of intense studies and officer training.

“The PeH staff and leadership have worked hard to professionalize the OCS program in order to provide capable, motivated and technically proficient officers for the Afghan Air Force,” said Lt. Col. David Hauck, PeH senior mentor.

“This was evidenced by the outstanding ceremony put on by the staff. The speakers at the ceremony celebrated the cadets’ selection to this elite program and challenged them to excel in all their future endeavors,” he said.