First Iraqi student graduates from Aviation Leadership Program

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jacob Corbin
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AFNS) --  Iraqi air force 2nd Lt. Omar AlNuaimi became the first Iraqi to complete the Air Force Aviation Leadership Program upon his graduation from aviation training July 24 here after three years of training.

The Iraqi airman earned his pilots wings with his fellow student pilots of Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training Class 09-12.

"It feels great (to graduate)," Lieutenant AlNuaimi said. "Since the Iraqi air force was founded and until this moment, we haven't had students who have graduated from the U.S. It's been great and wonderful to be trained and get my wings."

The Air Force Aviation Leadership Program is a scholarship for undergraduate flying training and English language training. Lieutenant AlNuaimi began his journey with English language training at the Defense Language Institute at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Upon completion he traveled here to complete aviation training.

The lieutenant said he was shown great respect and understanding during his training, and in turn, so was his country.

"This is one step forward for breaking a huge wall between our two nations," he said.

While he's happy to graduate, he said he would never have gotten this far without the support and help of others along the way.

He credited the men and women he has encountered and who have helped him in his journey from a young man raised to hate the Western world (and the U.S. especially) to someone who would fight alongside its members and die for it.

This includes the man he said he considers a father figure, Lt. Col. Eddie Altizer, the 43rd Flying Training Squadron T-6A Texas flight commander.

"He is the greatest guy I have ever known," Lieutenant AlNuaimi said. "He really represents his country in the greatest way possible."

Lieutenant AlNuaimi will be taking the new skills and techniques he's learned in the United States and use them to help train the next generation of Iraqi airmen in Kirkuk, Iraq. He said the lessons and experience passed on to him by his instructor pilots here will be invaluable.

"I have gained good experience, and I will be glad to take all this experience back to my country and teach," he said.

He said his instructor pilots, performed double duty as English teachers to help him learn. Lieutenant AlNuaimi explained most aeronautical terms are not found in English language translation dictionaries. The instructors bridged the gap by using similar words to help him understand different concepts.

The lieutenant said the men and women who have helped him from day one have all taught him something valuable and made his journey possible, whether it be his English instructors at Lackland AFB, the instructor pilots who taught him daily, crew chiefs who maintained the aircraft he flew or his "brothers" in pilot training alongside him.

In addition, the lieutenant said the men and women, students and spouses, of his flights and classes were there for him any minute of the day, anytime he needed help. That, coupled with the warm-welcome given to him by members of the local community, are what he said made his time here easy and pleasant.

"They treat us so very well and welcome us," he said.