{"page":"\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/resources-572d6a42.css\" /\u003e\n\u003clink rel=\"stylesheet\" href=\"https://lessonplanet.com/assets/packs/css/lp_boclips_stylesheets-f4d0de30.css\" media=\"all\" /\u003e\n\u003cdiv data-title='Afghan air force learns to fly and fix aircraft' data-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c354d8eafeecae16073a' data-video-url='/boclips/videos/5c54c354d8eafeecae16073a' id='bo_player_modal'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='boclips-resource-page modal-dialog panel-container'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='react-notifications-root'\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-header'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-type'\u003e\n\u003ci aria-hidden='true' class='fai fa-regular fa-circle-play'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\nVideo\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ch1 class='rp-title' id='video-title'\u003e\nAfghan air force learns to fly and fix aircraft\n\u003c/h1\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-actions'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='mr-1'\u003e\n\u003ca class=\"btn btn-success\" data-posthog-event=\"Signup: LP Signup Activity\" data-posthog-location=\"body_link_boclips\" data-remote=\"true\" href=\"/subscription/new\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cspan\u003eGet Free Access\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e for 10 Days\u003c/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e!\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\u003c/a\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-body'\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-info'\u003e\n\u003cdiv aria-label='Hide resource details' class='rp-hide-info' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u0026times;\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Expand resource details' class='rp-expand-info fai fa-solid fa-up-right-and-down-left-from-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003ci aria-label='Compress resource details' class='rp-compress-info fai fa-solid fa-down-left-and-up-right-to-center' role='button' tabindex='0'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-rating'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='resource-pool'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-label'\u003ePublisher:\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='pool-name'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='text'\u003e\u003ca data-publisher-id=\"30356011\" href=\"/search?publisher_ids%5B%5D=30356011\"\u003eCurated Video\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-description'\u003e\n\u003cspan class='short-description'\u003eJanuary 17, 20121. Afghan Air Force pilot and instructor Major Abdul Aziz, walking pass an old fighter jet outside Afghan Air Force University2. Mid of Aziz entering university buildingJanuary14, 20123. Wide of Aziz teaching Afghan...\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003cspan class='full-description hide'\u003eJanuary 17, 2012\u003cbr/\u003e1. Afghan Air Force pilot and instructor Major Abdul Aziz, walking pass an old fighter jet outside Afghan Air Force University\u003cbr/\u003e2. Mid of Aziz entering university building\u003cbr/\u003eJanuary14, 2012\u003cbr/\u003e3. Wide of Aziz teaching Afghan pilots in classroom\u003cbr/\u003e4. Various of Afghan pilots during class session\u003cbr/\u003e5. Mid of Aziz teaching\u003cbr/\u003e6. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Major Abdul Aziz, Afghan Air Force pilot and instructor: \u003cbr/\u003e\"Besides the fact that I loved being a pilot, I also chose to become an instructor because I wanted to serve my country.\"\u003cbr/\u003e7. Mid of Aziz in the classroom\u003cbr/\u003e8. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Major Abdul Aziz, Afghan Air Force pilot and instructor: \u003cbr/\u003e\"We need to have more of these courses in future, so our instructors can get more familiar with the new method and become professionals. I believe that our own trainers in future can do their jobs without the help of our foreign advisers and supervisors. Using their past and present experience they can carry on with training very well in future.\"\u003cbr/\u003e9. Wide pan from Colonel Michael T. Needham, commander of the 738th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron, to an old Russian helicopter\u003cbr/\u003e10. Mid of Needham talking with colleagues\u003cbr/\u003e11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Colonel Michael T. Needham, commander of the 738th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron: \u003cbr/\u003e\"We go by the motto of independence through education and what that really is is that we can help them become an independent air force through the education process here, whether it be through the literacy, the professions, or the leadership institute that encompasses the entire PEH (Pohanton-E-Hawayee, Dari word for Air Force University).\"\u003cbr/\u003e12. Cutaway of Needham's hand\u003cbr/\u003e13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Colonel Michael T. Needham, commander of the 738th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron:\u003cbr/\u003e\"Well, the goal is really to get them to a point where the mentors are not necessary, we would like to work ourselves out of a job, so that we can hand everything over, all the courseware, all the instruction, all the day-to-day operation of the school over to the Afghans to where that our job here is not necessary.\"\u003cbr/\u003eJanuary 16, 2012\u003cbr/\u003e14. Low angle of Afghan pilots walking around an old Russian Helicopter during a training session\u003cbr/\u003e15. Wide of helicopter during training session\u003cbr/\u003e16. Mid of instructor, Colonel Din Mohammad instructing the trainees \u003cbr/\u003e17. Close of trainee listening\u003cbr/\u003e18. Low angle pan from trainees to instructor\u003cbr/\u003e19. Close of instructor\u003cbr/\u003e20. Wide of class session\u003cbr/\u003e21. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Din Mohammad, Afghan Air Force University instructor: \u003cbr/\u003e\"We are happy to receive the new planes and helicopters, some are already here and some might be coming in future, so that our Air Force stands on its own feet in order to help our infantry forces on time.\"\u003cbr/\u003eJanuary 17, 2012\u003cbr/\u003e22. Wide of Afghan Air Force line-up in university compound\u003cbr/\u003e23. Mid of Afghan Air Force personnel  \u003cbr/\u003e24. Various of Afghan Air force members marching \u003cbr/\u003eTwenty years ago, Afghan Air Force pilot Major Abdul Aziz was streaking across the sky in the Soviet Union's deadliest fighter-bomber.\u003cbr/\u003eHis task now is less dramatic or flamboyant, yet perhaps even more important, helping build and train a new skilled air force that can keep the planes in the air after Western mentors go home.\u003cbr/\u003eThe challenge of forging a modern, technically proficient air force in a country at war is immense, but a fully operational Afghan Air Force is an essential element in the West's exit strategy. \u003cbr/\u003eThe target date for having an Afghan Air Force able to stand on its own feet, with about 8,000 trained personnel and 145 aircraft, is 2016.\u003cbr/\u003eWhen the corps was reformed in 2005, it had to start from scratch. \u003cbr/\u003eThousands of different specialists - including crew chiefs, engine and airframe technicians, avionics and communications experts, loadmasters and air base fire-fighters - all had to be recruited and trained.\u003cbr/\u003e\"Besides the fact that I loved being a pilot, I also chose to become an instructor because I wanted to serve my country,\" said Maj. Aziz, who swapped the cockpit of an attack jet for a classroom. \u003cbr/\u003e\"We need to have more of these courses in future,\" Aziz added. \u003cbr/\u003e\"I believe that our own trainers in future can do their jobs without the help of our foreign advisers and supervisors. Using their past and present experience they can carry on with training very well in future.\" \u003cbr/\u003eAfghanistan's air force dates back to the 1920s, and reached its zenith during the 1980s Soviet occupation with nearly 500 fighter planes and bombers, transport aircraft and helicopter gunships. \u003cbr/\u003eBut it became little more than a scrap heap, left to decay by the Taliban during the civil war that followed the Soviet withdrawal in 1989, and then destroyed on the ground by US bombing in 2001.\u003cbr/\u003eThe search for the right personnel is the major challenge in developing the service.\u003cbr/\u003eBut Colonel Michael T. Needham, commander of the 738th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron believes that an independent Afghan Air Force can be created through the right education process.\u003cbr/\u003e\"We go by the motto of independence through education,\" he said.\u003cbr/\u003eThe unit's American, Canadian, Jordanian and Portuguese instructors are assisting, training and advising the 230 Afghan staff of the aviation college at Kabul airport who must impart all aspects of general, as well as military, education.\u003cbr/\u003e\"The goal is really to get them to a point where the mentors are not necessary, we would like to work ourselves out of a job, so that we can hand everything over,\" he added.\u003cbr/\u003eThe war against the resurgent Taliban has relied heavily on allied air forces to transport infantry units to remote outposts, keep them supplied in battle and provide close air support. \u003cbr/\u003eMissiles fired from drones and exploding roadside bombs may get the media attention, but in a mountainous country with few roads, this has largely been a helicopter war.\u003cbr/\u003ePlanners therefore expect that the combination of transport and helicopter gunships, and eventually fixed-wing close support aircraft, will allow the government's security forces to conduct independent operations after 2014 when the rapidly expanding Afghan police and army are to take over from the US-led international force.\u003cbr/\u003eAllied nations have already supplied refurbished Italian-built C-27A tactical transports, Mi-35 helicopter gunships and Mi-17 transport choppers. \u003cbr/\u003eAside from the attack helicopters, the only dedicated close air support aircraft will be about two dozen A-29 Super Tucano counterinsurgency turboprops.\u003cbr/\u003e\"We are happy to receive the new planes and helicopters, some are already here and some might be coming in future, so that our Air Force stands on its own feet in order to help our infantry forces on the ground on time,\" said Afghan Air Force University instructor, Din Mohammad.\u003cbr/\u003eOne problem facing the Afghan Air Force is annual attrition rate of nearly 20 percent. \u003cbr/\u003eWhile not as bad as the rate at which troops are deserting the Afghan Army, this makes it difficult to retain a cadre of trained and experienced personnel.\u003cbr/\u003eAn indication of how quickly things can go wrong, an Afghan military pilot opened fire after an argument last April at Kabul airport, killing eight US trainers and advisers and an American civilian contractor.\u003cbr/\u003e\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='action-container flex justify-between'\u003e\n\u003cbutton aria-expanded='false' aria-label='Read more description' class='rp-full-description' type='button'\u003e\n\u003ci class='fai fa-solid fa-align-left'\u003e\u003c/i\u003e\n\u003cspan id='read_more'\u003eRead More\u003c/span\u003e\n\u003c/button\u003e\n\u003cdiv class='rp-report'\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003c/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv 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