NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan
| NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan | |
|---|---|
| Active | 2010—2015 |
| Nickname(s) | NATC-A |
| Anniversaries | September 8, 2010 |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
David Allvin,Timothy Ray, and Steven Shepro John Michel, Michael Rothstein, |
The NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan (NTM-A) activated the NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan (NATC-A) in September 2010 while simultaneously deactivating its predecessor, the Coalition Air Power Transition Force (CAPTF). This reflected a change from a primarily US led and staffed mission to one that encompassed many other countries within the larger NATO training mission in Afghanistan.
NATC-A was replaced by the Train, Advise, Assist Command – Air, or TAAC-Air in January 2015 as the NATO campaign in Afghanistan transitioned to the Resolute Support Mission.
The NATC-A mission was to "set the conditions for a professional, fully independent and operationally capable Afghan 'air force' that meets the security requirements of Afghanistan today ... and tomorrow." Since it has been established, NATC-A has worked to rebuild and modernize the Afghan Air Force and served as the air component of the US-led, international NATO Training Mission Afghanistan.
NATC-A worked to develop the Afghan Air Force (AAF) and the Afghan National Police (ANP) Air Interdiction Unit / Special Mission Wing to provide aviation support to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIROA). In turn, the AAF primarily supported the Afghan National Army while the ANP's Air Interdiction Unit supported counter-narcotics and logistics support missions.
Initially NATC-A worked on four lines of operation to build airmen, aircraft, facilities and the institution of the AAF. As the AAF matured, these effort evolved to strengthen the AAF institution, build AAF resource stewardship, forge a culture of safe standards, and advance AAF-led mission success.
NATO and non-NATO countries contributing personnel to NATC-A include Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, El Salvador, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Portugal, Ukraine, United Arab Emirate, United Kingdom and the United States.
Most of the NATC-A headquarters staff was co-located and daily worked with the AAF headquarters staff to train and advise them at Kabul International Airport. The remaining staff was located at Camp Eggers (in downtown Kabul) to facilitate coordination and AAF development with NTM-A and the Afghan Ministry of Defense. Since the United States originally contributed the most of the personnel and the NATC-A Commanding General was also dual-hatted as the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing Commander, NATC-A (and CAPTF) was organized along the US Air Force wing structure. There are three subordinate groups, the 438th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group at Kabul International Airport; the 738th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group at Kandahar International Airfield; and 838th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group at Shindand Air Base. Additionally, there were smaller detachments throughout Afghanistan. These locations mirror the locations of three AAF wings (Kabul Air Wing, Kandahar Air Wing and Shindand Air Wing) and geographically separated AAF units NATC-A trained, advised and equipped.
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