The first class of firefighters from the Afghan Air Force and the Afghan National Army graduated from a NATO-led fire instructor course—the first of its kind in Afghanistan—during an Oct. 31 ceremony at Kabul International Airport. The 13 students underwent a five-day course that covered methods of instruction, adapting lesson plans, record keeping, and passing a written and practical exam, according to a Nov. 5 service release. Fire advisers from NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan taught the course, states the Nov. 5 release. “Now all of you have gone from student to teacher [and] can go back to your base, train your firefighters, and sign off on core tasks and upgrade training,” said MSgt. Jeffery Hackworth, a NATC-A fire advisor, at the ceremony. “This is a huge step toward a self-sustaining Afghan air force fire service.” The course was created to design a standard to be used among all Afghanistan agencies to train firefighters, states the release.
Trainees in Basic Military Training and technical school no longer have the option to try alternate PT drills if they fail an initial assessment, according to a policy change the Air Force made in April. The move is part of a larger shift out of the classroom and into hands-on,…