Airmen deployed to Afghanistan are working directly with local air force personnel to repair and operate aircraft, part of the service’s mission to help Afghans stand up their military. Airmen assigned to the 440th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron in Kabul work directly with Afghan Air Force personnel on how to maintain Afghan C-130H aircraft, according to the 445th Air Expeditionary Wing. The airmen at the Train, Advise, Assist Command-Air at Kabul periodically host classes, such as engine inspections and motor changes, with Afghan personnel to help them work on the Hercules. The classes include step-by-step tasks to teach the personnel how to maintain the aircraft once the NATO coalition leaves. The US presence is needed for the next “few years” to help Afghan troops address a capability gap in navigation, Army Brig. Gen. Wilson Shoffner, the deputy chief of staff for communications for NATO’s Resolute Support Mission, said in an Aug. 13 briefing at the Pentagon. (For more from the briefing, see also Afghans Have Persistent Gap in CAS, Air Support Capability.)
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…