How do Combat Aviation Advisors Train?

The current mission of the United States (and ISAF) in Afghanistan is Security Force Assistance; which primarily Train, Advise, and Assist (TAA). There are many types of advisors in Afghanistan to include members of the United States Air Force who are advising, training, and mentoring the Afghan Air Force (AAF). So what is it that ensures a good advisor is assigned to training the AAF? It starts with the proper selection of advisors. In addition, prior to deployment an advisor should receive some specialized training in instructional techniques, culture, force protection, counterinsurgency, and much more. For the air advisor to the AAF this probably occurs at the U.S. Air Force Air Advisors Academy located at Joint Base McGuire-Dix in Lakehurst, New Jersey.

A preferred method is to have advisors already selected and assigned to units that have an advising and training mission. One such unit in the U.S. Air Force is the 919th Special Operations Wing located at Duke Field, Florida. The 919th provides Combat Aviation Advisors (CAA) as part of its Aviation Foreign Internal Defense (AvFID) mission. Read about one type of training event that CAA teams undergo to become proficient as air advisors in "Combat Aviation Advisors attend large-scale Army exercise", DVIDS, September 16, 2014.