Puerto Rico Air National Guard helps build Afghan Air Force Posted 8/8/2014 438aew.afcent.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123420628 by Senior Master Sgt. Mike Hammond NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan public affairs 8/8/2014 - KABUL, Afghanistan -- Thirty Puerto Rico Air National Guard aircraft maintainers are deployed to NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan at Kabul International Airport, assisting the Afghan Air Force with C-130 operations and laying the groundwork for self-sustaining flying in the future. The Airmen, members of the 156th Maintenance Group, 156th Airlift Wing, based at Muniz Air National Guard Base, in Carolina, Puerto Rico, deployed in June with the personnel to support the AAF in maintaining its current fleet of 2 C-130H transport aircraft. The C-130 fills critical roles in the steadily-building AAF. The C-130 is crucial to the AAFs ability to transport equipment and personnel. It is also essential for casualty evacuation and, when necessary, transportation of human remains. With minimal road infrastructure and persistent ground-based threats, air cargo transport is vital in Afghanistan. There were several advantages in deploying the 156th for this role, according to Lt. Col. Stephen Scherzer, director of logistics and maintenance for NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan and the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing at Kabul. The Puerto Rico Air National Guard brings a wealth of experience with this airframe to our mission. Their abilities have enabled us to train, advise and assist the Afghan Air Force in developing their medium-lift capability with these C-130s. Their presence has enabled us to put these C-130s into service immediately while we await a future logistics support contract. But the benefits go both ways, according to the 156ths officer in charge of maintenance, Maj. Alexander Santiago. Santiago explained that when the unit received WC-130s in 2012, it came with some limitations. The WC-130s lack several systems necessary to fly in additional areas of responsibility, Santiago said. As a unit, our ability to participate in missions like Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom became basically impossible due to aircraft restrictions when operating in that AOR. As our leadership sought a new mission for the wing, our maintainers have been in a holding pattern: generating aircraft for local training missions in Puerto Rico and the continental United States to maintain aircrew qualifications. When the National Guard Bureau presented us with the opportunity to help in Kabul back in late 2013, we were more than willing to take on the task, Santiago said. In fact, we had so many Airmen who volunteered, we had to turn down some of our guys and push them on to subsequent rotations. At this point, Santiago said his group of 30 is handling maintenance of the aircraft, as the first group of AAF maintainers attends technical training in the U.S. The end goal in this effort, like others in progress through NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan, is to build a capable and sustainable force, shoulder-to-shoulder with the AAF - one that will help ensure the stability and prosperity of Afghanistan well into the future. To that end, the Guardsmen go beyond simply keeping the birds in the air. They are also advising their AAF counterparts in developing a training platform through which to continue teaching the new students as they return from the U.S., Santiago said. As of July, we joined forces with our coalition partners and began developing a training program based on U.S. Air Force career field education and training plans, the major said. The intent is to get an upgrade training program in place. Helping facilitate these goals and the baseline of smooth operations is a perspective inherent to the Puerto Rico Air Guardsmen themselves, Santiago said. We have a proud heritage of working with many countries and in many cultures throughout Central and South America, Santiago said. We are a bilingual unit; back home, we speak in Spanish and English. And I would say we bring a unique level of cultural competence and awareness to the table. So we understand the language barrier ordeals. We ourselves have experienced language and cultural barriers while on temporary duty, but because of our resiliency and desire to be the best, we have overcome those challenges. And we have the patience to invest just a bit more time in explaining and demonstrating how to get the job done. Santiago said he realizes this is an ongoing process, and that his unit will redeploy before the NATC-A mission is complete. However, by building positive working relationships based on mutual respect and trust and developing a good foundation of training and education while they are in Kabul, this group of 30 Puerto Rico Air Guardsmen plans to help the Afghan Air Force lift off and fly into a brighter future.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 20:55:56 +0000