U.S. Airmen Train Iraqi Maintainers
By Air Force Senior Airman Eric SchloeffelSpecial to American Forces Press ServiceJune 25, 2008 - While Iraqi air force pilots continue flying sorties to aid stability in their nation, Iraqi maintainers on the ground here have achieved important benchmarks to keep their fleet in the air. Airmen with the Iraqi air force's 3rd Squadron took over a wide variety of maintenance duties on the unit's Cessna 208 Caravan fleet that's used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, a task formerly performed by U.S. contractors."The 3rd Squadron was recently asked to transition from contracted maintenance to full Iraqi support," said Air Force Capt. Gordon Beran, 870th Expeditionary Air Advisory Squadron combat aviation advisor. "Having the ability to take over maintenance for their new fleet is very important. It brings them one step closer to a fully autonomous air force."The all-Iraqi crews perform Level 1 maintenance tasks such as aircraft launch and recovery, pre-flight maintenance, ground handling and aircraft servicing.This was no simple undertaking for the Iraqi maintainers, who had no experience with Western-style aircraft and whose English-speaking abilities are limited."While the Cessna 208 is fairly basic, these aircraft are equipped with state-of-the-art surveillance technology found on most U.S. Air Force advanced weapon platforms," Beran said. "The aircraft takes a lot of training for a pilot to operate - and takes just as much for the maintainer."The maintainers here received their previous training with Russian equipment that the old Iraqi air force used during Saddam Hussein's regime, the captain added.To meet the challenges of maintaining an unfamiliar aircraft, the Iraqis relied heavily on their experience, but also worked hard to understand the endless pages of technical orders that deal with the Cessna 208. Airmen from the Coalition Air Forces Training Team - a collection of U.S. servicemembers who advise and train Iraqi airmen - always are on hand to guide them.Since the 3rd Squadron moved from Basra to Kirkuk a few years ago, the program has made leaps and bounds to aid stability efforts in Iraq, Beran said."The Cessna 208 provides overwatch for oil pipelines that run from Kirkuk to Basra, where the oil is then exported to provide revenue for Iraq," Beran said. "Aircrews have witnessed numbers of insurgents planting bombs on various pipelines and power grids, and alerted the U.S. and Iraqi army to handle the situation. These efforts show the Iraqi air force is making extremely important contributions to help stabilize their country."The 3rd Squadron's maintainers seem to agree and believe that the maintenance transition is another piece of the pie for the Iraqi air force