Iraqi air force makes strides toward transition

CAMP TAJI, Iraq: An Iraqi air force officer cadet class will soon walk across the stage here, picking up their diplomas and their commissions as second lieutenants.

In preparation for their graduation, the soon-to-be officers took time out of their busy class room schedule to pick up a special issue of uniforms at one of the central issuing facilities here Aug. 28.

"You can see the pride in their eyes," said Capt. Alisa Thomas, an instructor for the Coalition Air Force Transition Team, or CAFTT, 370th Expeditionary Training Squadron. "They're getting a nice new set of uniforms with their new officer rank sewn on them. They're definitely excited and they're going to be looking sharp on graduation day."

Out of this first class to graduate from Camp Taji's Iraqi Air Force Academy, four of them will go to Iraqi pilot school in Kirkuk, while others will pursue engineering and maintenance officer positions within the new Iraqi Air Force.

Yet one thing is certain, once these cadets graduate Sept. 12, all of them will play a pivotal role in aiding in the transition of the Iraqi air force, said Capt. Kyle Grygo, the flight commander and a CAFTT instructor.

"We see them taking the lessons we've taught them and using their skills to where we can eventually transition to handing over air sovereignty to them again," Captain Grygo said. "This will be an incredible opportunity for them, having a direct hand in building their country by rebuilding their air force."

Six U.S. Air Force captains have been training the primary instruction for the cadets with classes such as fundamentals of flight and basic officer indoctrination courses.

U.S. Air Force enlisted Airmen taught the cadets about drill and ceremony, security training, weapons familiarization, field training, self aid and other basic military training skills.

The six-month course is broken up into two iterations with the first three-month block concentrating on basic officer candidate courses while the other three months are dedicated to fundamentals of flight.

In addition to assisting in the building of a future officer corps for the Iraqi air force, the CAFTT staff is also training 55 enlisted Iraqi airmen -- all new basic trainee graduates -- in air force-specific courses, including maintenance and security training.

Unlike problems that many military transition training teams run into with language barriers, that has not been much of a problem in the case of the Iraqi air force cadets.
 
"We have very few problems. They've all had six months of English language training," said Captain Grygo, who trains fundamentals of flight. "The international pilot language is English and they've been increasing their language ability so that when they fly, they can do it all in English."

"All of their homework is in English," Captain Grygo said. "Occasionally we'll pull an interpreter in if some of the words become too technical or don't translate well. They're very smart and very well-rounded so they haven't had too many problems catching on."

For Tech Sgt. Kevan Dent, also an instructor with the CAFTT, the experience of training the cadets has been worthwhile.

"There have definitely been a lot of challenges but they have come a long way," Sergeant Dent said. "They're doing a great job."

Sergeant Dent has been training the cadets in basic marksmanship, how to break down their weapons, perform maintenance and field training such as security and first aid.

"In order to break up the monotony of training in the classroom, we've been doing a lot more hands-on training," Sergeant Dent said. 

As the classes continue to rotate through the academy, Captain Grygo said he believes each rotation of new students will leave a lasting impression on his fellow air force co-workers and subordinates.

"I think that the officers and enlisted airmen will see, through the example of the cadets, that there are plenty of good Iraqis out there," Captain Grygo said. "Even though it's dangerous for these cadets to be a part of this, they want to take a role in the building of a free Iraq."

"It's really motivating for us to see that, and this is something we can take back home with us to show our comrades that there are good people -- good Iraqis -- out here doing good things."

Once cadets have received their uniform issue with officer insignia, it's one of the last things they have to do before graduation.

"This is just one more step toward their goal of getting their commission," Captain Grygo said.

As the last uniforms and boots were handed out to the cadets, they walked out of the central issuing facility -- their arms full. One of the future officers looked proudly at the second lieutenant star on the new uniform blouse, patting his hand over it, moving his fingers into the blue of the epaulet, grinning.