First US trained Afghan Chopper pilots begin Mi-17 qualification course

Afghan Air Force 1st LTs Ahmad Fawad Haidari and Abdul Saboor Amin pose for a photgraph infront of the Mi-17 helicopter they will use during a training mission focusing on traffic patterns at the Afghan Air Force Base in Kabul, Afghanistan Jan. 24. Photo by Vladimir Potapenko

Wednesday, January 26, 2011 Source http://waronterrornews.typepad.com

438th Air Expeditionary Wing

01.25.2011 Story by Vladimir Potapenko KABUL, Afghanistan - The first two Afghan Air Force helicopter pilots to complete basic pilot training in the U.S. recently began the “Initial Mi-17 Qualification Course” meant to convert them into Mi-17 helicopter pilots at the Afghan Air Force Base in Kabul. A hybrid of Croatian and U.S. helicopter training syllabi, the course is a six-month evolution that will qualify the pilots, 1st LTs Abdul Saboor Amin and Ahmad Fawad Haidari, as helicopter aircraft commanders in the Mi-17 and authorize them to fly as such in the Afghan Air Force, said U.S. Navy Lt. Jason Dickerson of Richmond, Va., the NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan/438th Air Expeditionary Advisory squadron training & evaluations officer.