The Afghan air force’s Kabul Air Wing has taken responsibility for the Afghan crew chief and air assault academy from NATO advisors of the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade. AAF’s crew chief and air assault courses have been taking place at Bagram Airfield for the past nine months under the leadership of NATO’s Task Force Falcon. In the most recent classes, the first AAF instructors graduated. That, coupled with the recent arrival of four new Mi-17 helicopters at Kabul, means the Afghan wing is ready to assume the lead role, according to officials with the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing at Kabul that oversees the NATO air training mission. This handover took place several days after the Kabul Air Wing celebrated it first anniversary. (Kabul report by Capt. Rob Leese) (Kandahar report by SrA. Melissa B. White)
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.