As U.S. forces prepare to depart Afghanistan, the Afghan Air Force and the Afghan National Army are integrating air and ground forces to conduct combat fire support and logistics missions as they keep growing and lead operations.
On Sept. 18, three Afghan National Army fire support officers and two staff officers with the 4th Infantry Brigade, 203rd Corps, conducted an air-to-ground integration, or AGI, exercise near Hunter Base in eastern Afghanistan.
The Afghan National Army, or ANA, soldiers successfully coordinated with two Afghan Mi-35 helicopters. They conducted live-fire drills, including easy methods to abort a mission.
The AGI exercise, portion of an evidence of concept initiative to certify Afghan air coordinators, allowed ANA soldiers to speak with the pilots and supply a security net for the military and air force to interact inside the same area of operation.
“Currently the Afghan security forces rely on the coalition forces to offer them air support,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Mark Brown, a local of Sacramento, Calif., a NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan adviser. “In 2015, they (Afghan forces) are going to should depend upon their very own assets to give this kind of support.”
Brown and U.S Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Keith Hunt, 504th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Group, and a Lexington, N.C., native, are helping to develop the curriculum to create a brand new Afghan Air Force, or AAF, career field, Afghan Tactical Air Coordinator.
The program the AAF is developing in hand with the ANA is necessary to the AAF transitioning, said Brown. It is a critical point one day of the Afghan military.
“They’ve shown and demonstrated their ability to perform a little of those missions all alone,” he added.
The classroom instruction started Sept. 14, when the ANA soldiers trained to spot terrain, enemy targets, and mark friendly positions on a map. The hands-on instruction included procedures for communicating with a pilot.
ANA 2nd Lt. Nasrullah, a hearth support officer with the 4th Kandak, 4th Infantry Brigade, said the educational, together with the live-fire exercise, went well. He said he found the study room training, where he learned tips to communicate with the pilots using codes, very effective.
“I think we’ve got the capabilities, ANA and ANP (Afghan National Police), to fight against the insurgents,” he added. “We had a (recent) operation and not using a U.S. support, and we were successful against the enemy.”
“We are only there for guidance and assistance,” said 1st Lt. Robert Gordon, a local of Syracuse, N.Y., and an adviser with 1st Battalion, 76th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, who’s partnered with Nasrullah and his team. “They are on the point where they will exit and do their missions all alone,” he said.
“They’ll have the ability to utilize those helicopter fighters to push the enemy back,” he added.
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