Afghan Air Force conducts bilateral missions with coalition forces
The entire C-130 airlift mission was planned, co-ordinated, controlled, and executed by the Afghan Air Force.
The US military has reported that personnel from the Train, Advise, Assist, Command – Air (TAAC-Air) and the Afghan Air Force conducted a bilateral casualty evacuation mission and an aerial re-supply training exercise on 9 and 10 July.
Afghan pilots and US Air Force (USAF) advisors from the 538th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron onboard a C-130 plane made a return flight from Hamid Karzai International Airport to Kandahar Airfield to drop off supplies and facilitate the movement of wounded Afghan National Defence and Security Force personnel back to Kabul for further treatment.
Lt Col James Torok, a USAF C-130 advisor, said: “We fly several missions per week. At this point we’re pretty much in an assisting phase. Advising mainly comes into play when dealing with aircrew equipment and procurement. The Afghans are no longer coalition-dependent on airlift missions.”
The entire C-130 airlift mission was planned, co-ordinated, controlled, and executed by the Afghan Air Force, noted the USAF. Afghan Air Force Maj. Khial M. Shinwari served as the aircraft commander of the recent mission.