Posted on Jan 19, 2022
Before US pullout, watchdog warned of Afghan air force collapse
1.02K
49
16
15
15
0
Edited 3 y ago
Posted 3 y ago
Responses: 7
Risk analysis as early as 2019 had pointed out the imbalance and precariousness of the Afghani Air Force. As those who have been involved with aircraft on RP know, you can have the best pilots in the world but it takes even better mechanics and techs to keep you flying.
(6)
(0)
Maj Kevin "Mac" McLaughlin
Mechanics, Air field Operations and Support, and then some. We pulled the Air Advisors out in 2014 despite our recommendations to the President. They opted to continue pilot training stateside for the Super Tucanos and switched out the MI-17 platform for the Blackhawk. All of this essentially pushed back the progress to which they never recovered from. Especially when the training for running, maintaining, and sustaining an airfield essentially disappeared by 2015. They weren't ready to take it on themselves. Furthermore, the ANA, since its inception trained around the use of air power for support. That disappeared, we continued to do it for them until the pullout last Aug. Even our own Army would be hard pressed to fight if their air power suddenly went away.
(3)
(0)
Maj Kevin "Mac" McLaughlin
Point to note. They're referred to as Afghans, not Afghanis. Afghani is a currency.
(2)
(0)
I written several posts on this since the debacle of the pullout. They simply weren’t ready (the AAF that is). Since we rolled in back in 2001, our Afghan allies have depended on our air power. Training was slow but progressing and I took a role as an Air Advisor back in 2013-2014. We briefed Gen Dunford on a 3 year plan to get to the next evolution for their Air Force to which he agreed and made the recommendation to the President. President Obama instead set us (and them) on a path to fail by pulling out almost all the Air Advisors by the end of 2014. When we pulled out everyone last Aug, the ANA, who had trained for 20 years to fight depending on US/coalition air power, ultimately was set up for failure. It was wrong to pull out.
(6)
(0)
MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D.
Unfortunately, we were pouring blood and treasure down a bottomless pit. Nation building, we learned the hard way in Vietnam, is doomed to failure. People need to be free to follow their own path. The Afghan government was even more corrupt than the current administration here.
(1)
(0)
Maj Kevin "Mac" McLaughlin
I disagree with regards to our efforts training the AAF. They were progressing pretty well, although slowly. The problem really was the older/legacy members of the ANA, which we were trying to weed out through retirement incentives and such (specifically those who impeded the progress). The younger generation, along with many of the more astute mid-senior leaders, were very frustrated with their own senior leader's antics. We needed more time to bring those individuals into the senior leader positions and help break down the barriers. That 3-year roadmap like I said was briefed to Gen Dunford. It wasn't some plan to end the effort though, but rather a plan to get to the next level of maturity. We never got to execute it because of President Obama's choice to pull the advisors out. Remember that by the end of the 1990s, after much of what was one of the largest Air Forces in the world splintered down to an almost non-existent state. When we rolled in, there wasn't an Air Force to build on and it had to be rebuilt all together. Building an Air Force is not a trivial matter, especially when the service needs to recruit intelligent enough personnel to operate and maintain highly technical equipment and run complex operational support capabilities like air control, communications, maintenance, CE. All with what? A country with a significantly high illiteracy rate? Again, we needed more time, or we needed to leave a residual force to continue the Air Support efforts while continuing the training efforts. All while articulating our commitment to stick with the Afghan people until they could manage their own national security.
(2)
(0)
Only one of many clues that it wasn't going to end well. The panicked-looking exit at the end was just the capstone. Such an avoidable debacle and it will haunt us for years...
(4)
(0)
Read This Next