Airmen from Dover AFB, Del. deployed to Iraq for a year to help build an Air Force there, reports TSgt. Kevin Wallace. Among the Dover airmen is TSgt. Steven Miller who serves as a combat-aviation advisor and who said the work is sometimes “grueling” with extended hours. However, he added, “As each day passes, you can see dramatic gains in the maintenance and operations successes from the Iraqis.” He also noted that Iraqi airmen “put their lives on the line every day,” because some have been kidnapped and killed. Jim Garamone reports that the man who leads the coalition team working to rebuild the Iraq Air Force, Brig. Gen. Robert Allardice, said last week from Baghdad that the Iraqi airmen, who now number around 1,200, flew 231 sorties the previous week and has been averaging about 180 per week over the last month. They fly a mix of American and Russian fixed-wing and helicopter missions with their 50 aircraft. The Iraqis recently opened their flying training school.
Clearing jungle and laying asphalt in tropical heat may not sound like fun to most people, but it’s a way of life for Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE) Airmen, who have spent the past year or so restoring World War II-era airfields on the Pacific…