Showing posts with label aviation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label aviation. Show all posts

Sunday, March 29, 2015

History of Task Force Musketeer (France)

EC-665 Attack Helicopter - Tiger
(photo by Erwan de Cherisey)
Task Force Musketeer was the name of the French aviation task force in Afghanistan. French military forces have been involved in Afghanistan since 2001 and for most of that time the French ground forces were supported by French rotary wing aircraft of many different types. The French helicopters performed a wide variety of duties to include air support, MEDEVAC, personnel movement, resupply, convoy escort, and reconnaissance. Erwan de Cherisey is a guest writer for the Afghan War News Blog. He has wrote a detailed history of France's aviation support in Afghanistan entitled - Task Force Musketeer. Erwan de Cherisey has wrote numerous articles for many different publications about aviation, Afghanistan, defense and other topics. He holds a master's degree in contemporary history and travels to many conflict zones around the world to report on peacekeeping, stability, and security operations. Erwan will provide articles and book reviews to the Afghan War News Blog on an occasional basis and we are proud to have him on the writing team! Read more about Erwan de Cherisey.

View the online article about Task Force Musketeer.


Saturday, December 6, 2014

82nd CAB and Retrograde

The 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade has been busy loading helicopters onto aircraft for the ride home back to the states. By the end of the year the 82nd CAB will have sent back 80 helicopters, including Chinooks, OH-58 Kiowa Warriors, UH-60 Black Hawks and AH-64 Apaches. It has also returned nearly $200 million worth of spare parts, tools and other equipment as part of its retrograde operations. The bulk of the equipment is shipped back to Kuwait where it is sorted through and prioritized for further shipment. Read more in "With the Troops: Copters packed for trip home"Fayetteville Observer, December 5, 2014.

Friday, November 28, 2014

Paper - Aviation and COIN in Afghanistan

The adapting of conventional aviation units to fight in a counterinsurgency environment is complex. Some aviation units are successful in this transition while others fail or do not contribute as much as they could have to the COIN effort. One aviation battalion that thinks it did it right is the Air Assault Battalion of the Third Infantry Division. In 2010 this battalion was ordered to deploy as part of the Third Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) to Afghanistan. The unit conducted a re-organization of personnel and equipment to prepare for the deployment. Officially named Task Force (TF) Brawler, the unit adapted its mind-set from a conventional, lethal, offensive approach to one required by the counterinsurgency environment of Afghanistan. the task force deployed to Forward Operating Base (FOB) Shank in Regional Command East supporting the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team that operated in Logar and Wardak provinces. Read a paper describing the train-up and deployment of TF Brawler to Afghanistan by the battalion commander, Colonel Robert T. Ault, in "Adapting Army Aviation for Irregular Warfare: Developing Leadership and Trust in a COIN Fight", Small Wars Journal, November 25, 2014.

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Refuelers at FOB Fenty

The refuelers from Echo Company, 1st Attack Reconnaissance Battalion of the 82nd Airborne Division stay busy 24 hours a day on Forward Operating Base Fenty (Jalalabad, Nagarhar province) in eastern Afghanistan. They are tasked with refueling military and civilian aircraft safely and quickly. The Forward Air Refueling Point (FARP) allows aircraft to come in, refuel, and get right back to their mission. Learn more about the people that run the FARP in "Fueling the fight over Afghanistan", DVIDS, October 26, 2014.

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Contract Helicopter Support for TAAC North

German forces in Afghanistan have recently contracted for civilian contract air with Basta Holdings Corp. The contract has an initial deployment of one helicopter for non-military logistical support. A medium-sized utility helicopter is now operating out of Mazar-e-Sharif (Camp Marmal) in northern Afghanistan. There may be an option for providing additional helicopters as needed. Read more in "Basta Holdings to Provice ACMI Helicopter Leasing in Afghanistan Through New Agreement", Yahoo.com Finance News, October 13, 2014.

Friday, October 3, 2014

82nd Combat Aviation Brigade Returns to Afghanistan

Fort Bragg's 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) has returned to Afghanistan. They will be based at Bagram Air Field and Kandahar Airfield. Read more in this Fayetteville Observer news story dated September 28, 2014.

Friday, September 19, 2014

Flying Dragons Support RC South

The 1st General Support Aviation Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment, 16th Combat Aviation Brigade (CAB) is also known as the "Flying Tigers". The Flying Tigers are located at Kandahar Air Field (KAF) and supports Regional Command South. They have multiple missions to include troop transport, re-positioning of equipment, resupply, MEDEVAC and more. They accomplish all of these missions at the same time that they are assisting in the retrograde of equipment and personnel in the transition to the Resolute Support mission. Learn more about this unit in Flying Dragon's adaptability valuable to RC-South, DVIDS, September 10, 2014. Photo by SSG Whitney Houston shows an Afghan National Army soldier aboard a CH-47F Chinook flying out of Kandahar Airfield.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Kandahar Airport - Connecting Afghanistan to the World

The United States and other western nations are pumping a lot of money into Afghanistan. A lot of this money seems to get wasted and some of it is shipped out by the suitcase by Hamid Karzai and his cronies to Dubai bank accounts. However, there are some pockets of light that surface from time to time. Gail McCabe provides us with one in her report on the Kandahar International Airport. View a short video by the Pentagon Channel about the airport and the progress being made at the following link. www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEh5w-yF9F8

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Snow Affects Helicopter Operations in Southern Afghanistan

Southern Afghanistan recently saw some snowy weather. Snow will affect military operations - changing or cancelling various types of activities. Primarily this pertains to movement of vehicles over roads and the use of rotary wing aircraft. Read an interesting article on how adverse weather conditions affects the use of rotary wing aircraft in Afghanistan. See "In Afghanistan, snow in desert brings operations to a halt", Stars and Stripes, February 15, 2014.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Video on Air Missions Run by 10th CAB at Bagram

A short video can be seen that describes some of the air missions that the 10th Mountain Combat Aviation Brigade is running out of Bagram Air Field in Regional Command East. CW5 William Butler is featured; interviewed by Gail McCabe. Mr. Butler talks about the flight hours, retrograde of equipment, how young troops are working hard and learning a lot, and how the aviation support mission has changed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJOzEez_gBc

Monday, February 3, 2014

Afghan Commandos Train with Afghan Helicopters

Afghan National Army commandos from the 8th Special Operations Kandak conducted tactical training with Afghan National Security forces helicopter aircrews in Pul-e-Alam district of Logar province in Afghanistan. The training was designed to sharpen skills needed while using Afghan helicopters. Tactics rehearsed included getting on and off the helicopters, providing security at helicopter landing zones, and employing helicopters to move from one location to another. Read more in "Afghan commandos, aviators perfect battlefield helicopter capability", DVIDS, February 2, 2014. (Photo by Bill Mesta, CJSOTF-A, January 20, 2014)