Iraq updates Hussein-era Air Force

By the end of 2009, the number of airmen is expected to triple to 6,000. Managing that growth won't be easy.

from the October 27, 2008 edition

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Additionally, American advisers have introduced a more rigorous safety system, a process that was extremely limited in the old Air Force. For pilots who managed to operate without such a rigorous system in the past, they often require more convincing.

"We are more rules- and regulations-oriented, and they were more brought up with a just-go-out-and-do-it [mentality]," says Lt. Col. Mark Brunworth, squadron commander for the 370th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group, from Dallas, Texas. "The boss told you to go out and do it, so therefore you're going to go out and do it."

The combination of languishing experience and a different philosophy has made it difficult for many old pilots to transfer to the new Western standards required by the US advisers and high ranking Iraqi officials. As a result, top graduates from IQAF flight school are often retained as flight instructors.

For older pilots who grew up in what used to be considered one of the fiercest air forces in the Middle East, watching new recruits become flight instructors can be a source of tension.

Less glory, more safety

On the eve of America's first war with Iraq in 1991, the IQAF had 50,000 airmen with over a thousand aircraft, making it the second largest in the region, surpassed only by Turkey.

Now, the IQAF has about 70 planes, almost all of which are new. And while the old Air Force had fighter jets – MiG-25s and Su-25s – the new Air Force only has propeller planes and helicopters without any strike capabilities.

"From a national pride prospective, from a perspective of knowing where they were in the past and seeing where they are now, there is a feeling on their part that it is a less adequate aircraft, that it's a less manly or a less prestigious aircraft to be flying," says USAF Lt. Col. Nathan Brauner, a native of Northridge, Calif. and commander of the 52nd Expeditionary Flying Training Squadron that trains Iraqi pilots.

Although the Iraqi government is considering purchasing F-16 fighter jets, US advisers and most senior Iraqi airmen agree that for the current mission, Iraq's Air Force is best served by propeller planes, such as the Cessna Skyhawk and the Cessna Caravan.

Unlike jets, these planes are more fuel-efficient, better equipped to handle Iraq's dusty conditions, and can fly at the slow speeds necessary for conducting surveillance missions – the bread and butter of the IQAF.

In December, though, the IQAF will acquire combat capabilities when it receives Caravans equipped with Hellfire air-to-ground missiles. Still, the planes have limited range and will pose little threat to Iraq's neighbors.

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