Seven members of the Afghan National Army Air Force have graduated from the first basic intelligence course run by the Combined Air Power Transition Force for the fledgling Afghan air arm. The four-month course began in January at the ANAAF base in Kabul. The seven Afghan airmen, who completed the course on July 21, underwent 210 hours of classroom instruction. The training was designed to teach them how to provide intelligence to air operations in the dynamic environment of a counterinsurgency campaign, contribute to operations with the US and NATO coalition, and protect and utilize classified information. The class was taught both in English and Dari. Three US Air Force non-commissioned officers serving with CAPTF designed the course. The graduation was another milestone in CAPTF’s efforts to help build a capable and independent Afghan air force. (Kabul report by Capt. Rob Leese)
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.