JTAC Training Video – Joint Terminal Attack Controllers of the U.S. Air Force are qualified to direct the action of combat aircraft engaged in close air support and other offensive air operations. The National Training Center (NTC) provides JTACs the opportunity to train along side the Army units that they will deploy with downrange. Watch a quick 2-minute long video explaining the training for JTACs at NTC.

Joint Terminal Attack Controllers Train at NTC
Posted on YouTube.com by U.S. Army, March 13, 2018
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlh1tMdSOHc

(photo taken from video)

ATAC Video – This three-minute long ATAC video describes the training that Afghan Tactical Air Coordinators (ATACs) go through to become certified to call in close air support missions for troops in contact or for ground operations. Their training is guided and assisted by advisors from Task Force Southeast. The ATAC video shows the ATAC trainees working with Afghan A-29 Super Tucano close air support aircraft of the Afghan Air Force (AAF). The video is narrated by the Director of Training and Education at the 203rd Thunder Corps.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEBt929LJIo

Winter Campaign 2016 – Afghan special operations forces of the Ministry of Defense (MoD) and Ministry of Interior (MoI) are undergoing a refit during winter campaign 2016. The typical fighting season in Afghanistan usually runs from April to October each each year. So, in the past, the Coalition would refer to that period as the ‘fighting season’. In the last few years the Taliban have been fighting year-round – with lessened activity during the winter months. So now, Resolute Support headquarters (formerly the International Security Assistance Force or ISAF) has dropped the term ‘fighting season’ and now refers to ‘summer campaign and winter campaign’.

Each year Resolute Support headquarters advisors work with the Afghan MoD and MoI on their campaign planning and execution. This years ‘winter campaign 2016’ has a number of goals and objectives that the MoD and MoI wish to accomplish to get ready for the uptick in fighting once ‘summer campaign 2017’ kicks off in the spring.

Last year saw the Taliban more active than ever and ending summer campaign 2016 holding more territory than at any other time since 2001. The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) took a lot of casualties and were badly shaken in many areas of the country (Kunduz, Helmand, Uruzgan, etc.). Most of the ANDSF did not measure up in tackling the Taliban in their geographic regions.

The one exception – of course – were the special operations forces of the MoD and MoI. According to DoD reports and press conferences the Afghan SOF conducted 70% of the offensive operations over the past year. Many times these SOF units were doing the work of Afghan conventional units – such as holding garrisons as defensive forces, guard duty at installations, or occupying checkpoints in excess of 30 days. The SOF units are over-used and miss-used. Resolute Support advisors ‘assisted’ the MoD and MoI in their planning for the current winter campaign – stressing the need to relieve the Afghan SOF units of the daily grind of combat operations and pull them out of the action for a while. This will allow them to take leave, refit, reorganize, and retrain on critical tasks and skills.

Read about one training event that recently took place at the end of December 2016 that is illustrative of SOF units retraining during the winter campaign.

“Members of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces participated in air-to-ground integration training at a firing range here Dec. 27. The day-long training exercise was part of the ANDSF winter campaign, which focuses on enabling Afghan forces to regenerate capability and capacity, and is supported by the NATO train, advise, and assist mission. At a press briefing earlier this month, Gen. John Nicholson, NATO Resolute Support mission commander, emphasized that during the winter campaign, the regeneration effort focuses on Afghan special forces.”

Read the rest of the article in “Afghan Air to Afghan Ground: special units conduct integration training”, NATO Afghanistan Resolute Support, January 1, 2017.

The Afghan Air Force (AAF) – pilot shortage. While it is currently able to conduct a host of operations (MEDEVAC, troop transport, resupply, close air support, and aerial reconnaissance) it is not to the level of capacity needed by the Afghan National Army (ANA) and the Afghan National Police (ANP). The Afghan Air Force has pilots, mechanics, and air frames – but not enough. In the past few years the United States and the other Coalition nations have pulled the bulk of the foreign air support from Afghanistan and the Afghan Air Force cannot fill the resulting capability gap.

There are a number of reasons why the Afghan Air Force is so far behind. The primary reason is that the United State Air Force missed the boat in a huge way. They started training and equipping the Afghan Air Force with too little too late. We are 15 years into this war and the Afghans are still way behind the power curve in forming and sustaining an air force.

There are other reasons for the inability of the Afghan Air Force to provide the necessary level of support required for its security forces. There are more air frames than there are pilots. For an Afghan to learn to fly military aircraft he needs to be conversant in English – the international language of aviators. Then the potential pilot, having gotten proficient in English, must undergo a year or more of pilot training.

Mechanics are another personnel shortage of the Afghan Air Force. It takes years to train and acquire the experience needed to be a fully qualified aircraft mechanic. For now, U.S. and contract mechanics are keeping the Afghan aircraft running but this is just a temporary measure.

The Afghan Air Force has recently received 18 x MD-530 helicopters [1] and four C-130s. They are in the process of receiving some A-29 Super Tucano close air support aircraft. Once these aircraft are completely fielded – and the mechanics and pilots are trained and experienced the the Afghan Air Force will on its way to meeting the demands of the Afghan Army.

Eventually, with continued support and funding by the United States and other countries, the Afghan Air Force will become proficient and experienced enough to conduct all air support operations in Afghanistan. However, for the time being, the United States will continue to provide limited close air support to the Afghan security forces.

Footnotes:

[1] The last four MD-530s were delivered in August 2016. See an news story by Resolute Support HQs, August 25, 2016.