Gen. Stephen Wilson, Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, visited the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing and Train, Advise, Assist Command-Air (TAAC-Air), Kabul, Afghanistan, April 13, 2017.
Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright; Maj. Gen. James Hecker, 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan commander; and Chief Master Sgt. Lisa Arnold, 9th AETF-A command chief; were also present to meet with several TAAC-Air and Afghan Air Force members.
Brig. Gen. David Hicks, TAAC-Air and 438th AEW commander, discussed the TAAC-Air mission detailing TAAC-Air’s advisory role with the AAF and plans for the summer campaign.
The mission of TAAC-Air is to train, advise and assist their Afghan counterparts to help build a professional, capable and sustainable air force. There are 13 different nations that contribute to the TAAC-Air mission, and each nation brings subject matter expertise that continues to develop the AAF.
Coalition and AAF members briefed Wilson about different AAF airframes and TAAC-Air’s training. Following a tour of each aircraft, Wilson addressed the whole group.
“There have been many changes in the last few years, and they’ve been made by some incredible Airmen,” said Wilson. “It starts with superb leadership, and translates down to folks with ambition and focus who know it takes the whole team to do it.”
Wilson’s aircraft tours included the A-29, C-208, MD-530 and Mi-17. The advisors had an open dialogue with Wilson where they elaborated on their counterpart’s success stories and some of the hurdles faced.
“It’s great to be part of this Coalition team as we train, advise and assist the Afghan Air Force,” said Wilson. “It is not lost on me the progress that’s been made.”
After meeting one-on-one with several “exceptional performance” Airmen, Wilson thanked TAAC-Air and the AAF for hosting the visit.
“As we went through each of the platforms, you can see the exponential growth that’s being made by the team here,” said Wilson. “We are really proud of the whole team that’s working hard to make all of this happen, and it’s great to see in action.”