Iraqi air force leaders thank U.S advisers, celebrate 80th anniversary

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jason Lake
  • 321st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BAGHDAD (AFNS) --  U.S. Air Force and Iraqi officials opened a state-of-the-art air operations center here as the Iraqi air force celebrated its 80th anniversary April 21.

The grand opening of a $9 million AOC at Hawk Base here kicked off a series of festivities celebrating the anniversary of the founding of Iraq's air force April 22, 1931.

"This new facility will provide the space and enable the technology needed to produce an integrated air picture across the entire country, enabling the support not just for the air force and army aviation command, but potentially to the army, navy and even police forces for unified protection of Iraq," said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Anthony Rock, the Iraq Training and Advisory Mission-Air director, shortly after the ribbon cutting.

According to ITAM-Air's lead advisor in the AOC, Maj. Christopher Dotur, Iraqi airmen will be able to monitor and direct intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance assets from the new AOC operations floor, which is nearly four times the size of the old trailers used before the two-year project was completed. The extra space in the AOC will enable the Iraqi air force to expand its capabilities over time, General Rock added.

"In the not so distant future, a pilot will be able to capture information and provide it to more than one source," said the general, who leads more than 1,000 Airmen in advising, training and assisting their Iraqi partners. "The potential exists for imagery to be directly fed to multiple (command and control) nodes, enabling instantaneous response capability to any threat, anywhere."

Following the opening of the AOC, hundreds of Iraqi and U.S. Airmen, Sailors, Soldiers, Marines and dignitaries -- including Iraq's Parliamentary Committee Chairman of the Security and Defense, Hassan al-Sunaid -- attended an anniversary celebration at New Al-Muthana Air Base, Iraq.

ITAM-Air advisors from the six major operating locations across the country attended the event, not only to celebrate the occasion, but also to congratulate more than a dozen Iraqi Army Aviation Command rotary wing pilot graduates as Iraq's Chief of Joint Forces, Gen. Babakir Zebari, pinned on their pilot wings.

"Sometimes I forget that I'm not back home instructing at the undergraduate pilot training school (at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas)," said Capt. Dick Stringer, a T-6 instructor pilot who represented the 52nd Expeditionary Flying Training Squadron at the ceremony. "Then I take a step back and realize the magnitude of what's going on here in Iraq."

In a country still marked by terrorist attacks and, in some cases, insurgent-led assassinations, Captain Stringer said he admires the bravery of his Iraqi counterparts who take risks by simply showing up to work.

"Flying with these guys has been one of the most motivating experiences of my career," Captain Stringer said. "What these Iraqi airmen have to deal with on a daily basis while going through training is unlike anything we ever had to deal with."

Last month, Lt. Col. Hamid Hussein, the Iraqi air force's Squadron 203 commander and first graduate of the 52nd EFTS instructor pilot training program, began training the initial cadre of more than a dozen Iraqi T-6 instructor pilots. These instructors will lead the program once U.S. military forces transition out of the country.

The event highlighted the strategic partnership between the two country's air forces and sister services, said U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Michael Ferriter, the United States Forces-Iraq deputy commanding general for advising and training.

"This was a great day to be an Iraqi airman and this was a great day to be an American Airman," General Ferriter said. "The celebration of Iraq's 80th anniversary of its air force shows the strong partnership of the U.S. Air Force and the capabilities we're bringing to the Iraqis. We're making great progress and I'm proud of what our Airmen have done under the leadership of General Rock."