Afghan Top Gun aircrews take to UK skies

Twenty-seven Afghan Aircrew are being trained in Wiltshire as part of a two year programme run by the UK Joint Helicopter Command (JHC), supported throughout by QinetiQ.

Training of the Afghan Pilots and flight engineers began in February 2008 at Boscombe Down under Project Curium

The aircrew have been trained on fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft and are nearing the completion of their training in the UK in March 2010. They will fly the Mi-17 when they return to Afghanistan where their training will continue.

“I’m delighted with how all the Afghan students coped with the cultural, language and technical elements of their training,” stated Wg Cdr Al Smith, Officer Commanding the Special Duties Squadron (SDS).

“The students, who are officers in the Afghan National Security Force, took part in English classes before beginning their flight training with 10 hours on a Firefly aeroplane before each spending over 60 hours in the Gazelle helicopter.  They then transferred to the Mi-17 helicopter, flying over 40-hours each including basics in tactical flying, formation keeping, confined area landings and some defensive manoeuvres. Their training will continue once they arrive in Afghanistan, preparing them for operating in the hot and high conditions there, enabling them to both build on and share what they have learnt.” 

One of the pilot instructors is Royal Navy Lieutenant Bridget Compain who has carried out several tours of Afghanistan. She was keen to volunteer when she heard about the chance to fly the aircraft and train Afghan crews in their use.

Lieutenant Bridget Compain said: "When I heard about the project I was excited about flying the aircraft and the challenge of training the Afghans and it has proved thoroughly enjoyable.

"It is a unique experience to have the Mi-17 in the UK and especially on a military register.

"I love flying the aircraft and the students have been fantastic – studious, respectful and hard working. It has been very rewarding.

"The language barrier is the biggest challenge. But as an instructor you just need to be sure you word any instructions in a clear way.

"But their English has come on a long way and by the end of the course I can speak to them as I would any UK student and they understand all the aviation aspects.

"I'll be sad to see them go. But we are sending them back as professional and competent aviators. It makes me happy to know they have had the best training and will be contributing to Afghan security."

Two of Lt Compain's Afghan students, Karim and Sayeed (preferring not to give their full names for security reasons) said they were looking forward to using their skills for real in Afghanistan.

2nd Lieutenant Karim, who had never flown previously and was selected for the course from the Afghan Security Forces, said his first time flying a helicopter in the UK was "big fun".

He praised the instruction he had received from the British staff but said he was keen to return to his home country and put his skills into action:

"I now want to help my country and serve my people," Karim said.

Sayeed, another Afghan trainee helicopter pilot said: “I want to work for our people. I want stability in my country, and I want peace in my country, because we are anti-terrorist.  We are against those people who are against our country.  So if those people are against us, so I am against them, this is for sure.  That’s why I am training.”

This is a small-scale project with a high return.  Time and effort invested in training the Afghan crews enables an eventual withdrawal of UK forces and the programme has already yielded tangible results.  A number of crews have completed their training and returned to Afghanistan where initial reports suggest they are a well-respected, competent and motivated cadre of professionals.  The crews trained here in UK are the seed corn of an indigenous Afghan National Security Force helicopter capability.

Rotorhub.com reported on Project Curium on March 4, to see that report click here

Source: Ministry of Defence / QinetiQ