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From: Miloch <Miloch_member@newsguy.com>
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Subject: Program to train Afghan attack pilots in the US has been disbanded after nearly HALF of the airmen went AWOL in Texas
Date: 3 May 2019 09:45:33 -0700
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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6988999/Program-train-Afghan-attack-pilots-disbanded-nearly-half-went-AWOL.html
*More than 40 percent of Afghan Air Force students in program went AWOL
not go AWOL were pulled back to Afghanistan to complete their training
A program to train Afghan attack pilots in the United States has been disbanded
after nearly half of the airmen went AWOL in Texas.
It has been revealed that more than 40 percent of Afghan Air Force students
enrolled in the program went absent without leave in the middle of training.
The attack pilots were being trained to fly the AC-208 Combat Caravan, a light
attack combat aircraft, according to a quarterly report by the Special Inspector
General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
Only one class graduated from the US-based program. The students that did not go
AWOL were pulled back to Afghanistan to complete their training.
The second and third classes will finish the rest of their training in
Afghanistan, according to Air Force Times.
SIGAR said it does not know whether the AWOL pilots, who were being trained in
Fort Worth at Meacham Airport, were ever found.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement for
comment.
While the figures may be striking, this is not an uncommon phenomenon with
foreign military trainees.
Taliban hitmen frequently target the highly-qualified Afghan attack pilots.
And SIGAR revealed in 2017 that nearly half of the 320 foreign military trainees
that have gone AWOL while training in the US since 2005 were from Afghanistan.
Of those 152 AWOL Afghan trainees, 83 either fled the US after going AWOL or
remain unaccounted for.
Many also claim asylum after being apprehended, such as the first female Afghan
pilot - who was receiving frequent death threats.
SIGAR also revealed this week that Afghanistan may not be ready for peace unless
it finds a way to reintegrate Taliban fighters into society, combat corruption,
and rein in the country's runaway narcotics problem.
Over the past months, the US has stepped up efforts to find a peaceful
resolution to Afghanistan's 17-year war and has been holding talks with a
resurgent Taliban.
The insurgents, however, refuse to negotiate with the Kabul government, which
they consider a US puppet. The Taliban also continue to stage near-daily
attacks, inflicting staggering casualties, and now control about half the
country.
'No matter how welcome peace would be, it can carry with it the seeds of
unintended and unforeseen consequences,' John Sopko, head of SIGAR, said in the
report.
The war has already cost America $737billion, according to the Pentagon. On
reconstruction alone, the US has spent $132 billion since 2002, much of that to
train and equip Afghan security forces, as well as strengthen government
institutions, provide education and better health care, said Sopko.
But the gains are fragile, Sopko said, and solutions are needed to the country's
increasing insecurity, 'endemic corruption, weak Afghan institutions, the
insidious impact of the narcotics trade, and inadequate coordination and
oversight by donors.'
Sopko said that failure to reintegrate the estimated 60,000 Taliban fighters and
their families into Afghan society would undermine peace.
'These "day after" risks could threaten US taxpayers' investment in Afghanistan,
set back humanitarian and development programs, undermine Afghan government
support, or even lay the grounds for new or resumed discord,' Sopko said.
SIGAR's report also said that the US military in Afghanistan no longer tracks
areas of control by the government and by the insurgents, without offering an
explanation for the change. Previous reports had said nearly half of Afghanistan
is under the control or influence of the Taliban.
'While the data did not, on its own, indicate the success or failure...it did
contribute to an overall understanding of the situation in the country,' Sopko
said.
Sopko said the US Department of Defense estimates it will cost $6.5billion to
finance Afghanistan's security needs in 2019 - $4.9billion of which will be paid
by the US. The rest will be funded by other donor countries.
more at
https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/05/02/afghan-pilot-training-ends-after-almost-half-went-awol-in-america/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Air%2005.02.19&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Air%20Force%20-%20Daily%20News%20Roundup
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