Senior Afghan commander's visit supports AMC role in building partnerships

Published July 21, 2009
By Mark D. Diamond
Air Mobility Command Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- The commander of the Afghanistan National Army Air Corps visited Scott Air Force Base July 15 as part of a U.S. visit that included stops at several U.S. Air Force installations, as well as the National Capital Region.

According to Air Mobility Command officials, the visit from Afghan Maj. Gen. Mohammad Dawran, the senior officer in charge of the Afghan air forces, support's the command's role in building and sustaining partner nation capacity.

AMC officials added that training, fighting and sharing ideas and lessons learned with joint and coalition partners has often been the key to operational success.

General Dawran said his visit to Scott provided good insight into air mobility operations and he looks forward to using the information to improve the air corps' support to the Afghanistan government and its citizens.

"Humanitarian assistance and mobility are core Afghan Air Corps mission areas of responsibility," said the general. "It was a pleasure to visit Scott AFB as it provided a unique vantage point and insight into command and control of air assets, as well as how the U.S. supports the humanitarian and other important mission sets from a logistics and mobility perspective. I look forward to being able to take this information back to Afghanistan and improve our support to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and our citizens."

While at Scott AFB, General Dawran received an AMC command briefing, followed by briefings and tours of the 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center; U.S. Transportation Command; the Deployment and Distribution Operations Center; and the 932nd Airlift Wing (Air Force Reserves). General Dawran's visit here concluded with the Scott AFB Aeromedical Staging Facility, which included a tour of an aeromedically-configured C-130 Hercules.

During General Dawran's AMC headquarters visit, he was accompanied by Gen. Arthur J. Lichte, AMC commander, as well as members of the Afghan and U.S. delegations, including: Brig. Gen. Walter Givhan, Commanding General, Combined Air Power Transition Force, and 438th Air Expeditionary Wing commander; and Lt. Col. Chris Fuller, CAPTF Director of Operations.

"It was a pleasure meeting with the senior leader in charge of Afghanistan's Air Corps," said General Lichte. "The Air Corps is an excellent example of success in rebuilding Afghanistan's security forces and a symbol of the progress in that country. During my recent visit to his country of Afghanistan, I was able to see first-hand the advances we are collectively making at places our mobility aircraft operate. We were able to compare notes and continue to make progress in partnering with them."

According to AMC officials, Scott AFB was one of several stops for General Dawran. The general's U.S. trip also includes visits to the Pentagon; Andrews AFB, Md.; the U.S. Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.; Camp Bullis and Randolph and Lackland AFBs in Texas; and Creech and Nellis AFBs in Nevada; and McChord AFB, Wash.

Lt. Col. Dave Polacheck, AMC International Programs office, said the purpose of General Dawran's visit here was to continue an open dialog between senior military leaders of the two countries and to reinforce airlift concepts that are being applied throughout Afghanistan.

Following General Dawran's visit here, Colonel Polacheck said the Scott AFB briefings and tours went exactly as planned.

"All presenters did an excellent job by tailoring their content to issues and challenges present in Afghanistan today," added Colonel Polacheck. Furthermore, he said the C-130 tour "was an excellent example of our Total Force Integration concept put into action" with an active duty aeromedical crew working hand in hand with an Air Force Reserve C-130 aircrew.

According to the Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan, or CSTC-A, the Afghan Air Corps is now capable of providing a growing medical evacuation capability, moving patients from the battlefield and forward from regional hospitals directly to the National Military Hospital in Kabul.

Furthermore, according to CSTC-A, the Afghan Air Corps is contributing significantly to the fight in Afghanistan.

In June, the Afghan Air Corps flew 665 sorties transporting more than 8,640 passengers and about 130,000 pounds of cargo. And in October 2008, the ANAAC had a record month, transporting 9,337 Afghanistan National Army and Police personnel. Additionally, in August, the ANAAC had another record month delivering 190,000 pounds of cargo. And, according to CSTC-A sources, ANAAC completed its first presidential Mi-17 mission on Oct. 28.

During his whirlwind tour of U.S. military installations this week - including three AMC bases and numerous briefings highlighting airlift, air refueling and aeromedical evacuation - the senior Afghan Air Corps officer certainly got an up-close and personal look at what air mobility brings to the fight.

On a typical day, U.S. military air mobility forces fly about 900 sorties and move nearly 2,000 tons of cargo and more than 6,000 passengers. This operations tempo equates to a mobility aircraft departure every 2 minutes, or less, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Since Sept 11, 2001, AMC has airlifted nearly 12.5 million passengers and more than 4.5 million tons of cargo. In support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, AMC has delivered nearly 3 million tons of cargo and more than 5 million passengers.

In addition to wartime operations, AMC humanitarian relief operations offer a hand of hope to those in need throughout the world.

In 2008 alone, Air Mobility Airmen supported relief efforts in Myanmar, China (twice), the Republic of Georgia, and Guatemala.

And as recently as May, a C-17 Globemaster III and its crew delivered 30,000 H1N1 influenza prevention kits to six South American countries, including Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras and Nicaragua.

Closer to home, Air Mobility Airmen moved more than 9,000 passengers, about 400 patients, and approximately 1,300 tons of cargo in support of relief efforts following Hurricanes Gustav and Ike along the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2008.