Forum highlights AU programs, Iraqi air force stand-up Published July 23, 2010 By Carl Bergquist Air University Public Affairs MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- Cyberspace research and U.S. support in building an Iraqi air force were topics of discussion during this year's first River Region Forum at the Maxwell Officers' Club July 16. Lt. Gen. Allen Peck, Air University commander, hosted about 30 civic leaders from the River Region community, along with other Air University military leaders. The event provides an opportunity to highlight current Air University initiatives as well as discussion about world and military affairs. The forum featured Maj. Gen. Robert Kane, Spaatz Center for Officer Education commander and Air War College commandant, who talked about his previous mission training, advising and assisting the development of the new Iraqi air force. In his introductory comments, General Peck spoke of his recent trip to Washington to brief Congressional leaders on the state of Air University and discuss various initiatives, including those involving the Air Force Institute of Technology's Center for Cyberspace Research. The General noted that "this center is a technological focal point for Air Force cyber defensive and offensive capabilities." General Peck also noted that Air Command and Staff College's Distance Learning master's degree is now offered to selected captains, with total enrollment of more than 1,100. Air University continues efforts to develop a Ph.D. program for top graduates of the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies and recently attained Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Level V status. Also, General Peck noted that Air University will soon conduct its fifth Wing Commanders Spouses Course in conjunction with the long-standing Wing Commanders Course. General Kane said he was very excited to be part of helping stand up the Iraqi air force. "It was the most professionally and personally rewarding year of my career," Kane said. He talked about the role of Airmen, soldiers, sailors and Marines involved in that mission. On "any given day," they were involved in all aspects of training and equipping the Iraqi air force and its Airmen. The advisors worked hard to achieve progress "by, with and through" the Iraqis. The general said a prime focus of the mission at his level was to develop institutional capacity and to give the Iraqis an opportunity to see the potential benefits of seeking a long-term partnership with the U.S. Air Force under the Strategic Framework Agreement. "They are building the foundation of a credible and enduring Iraqi air force," he said. "We have spent a lot of time training Iraqi Airmen because back in the 2004-2005 timeframe, we really had to start from ground zero." The general said while they now had well-trained crewmembers and aircraft, it was necessary to help the Iraqi air force leadership better organize or "operationalize" their growing capabilities and to begin contributing more credible airpower for the security of Iraq. He explained that a major challenge was the lack of Iraqi air force operations during the 1990s and at the turn of the century. The last time many Iraqi pilots effectively flew was during their war with Iran in the late 1980s. Those Iraqi pilots were captains at the time and are now colonels and generals, trying to build and employ their developing air force. With their rapidly growing experience and our advising and assistance, we are teaming together to develop the skills needed to do this complex job. He said previous leadership had developed a great model for developing a credible and enduring air force with a timeline estimated at 10 years. Things changed just before he arrived with the signing of the Security Agreement, which outlined the U.S. troop withdrawals. "Under this scenario, we had to adjust to shorter-term goals to emphasize building credible airpower capabilities the Iraqis could use to provide for more of their own security by the end of 2011, while they considered the potential of a more long-term partnership with the U.S. Air Force," he said. A great deal of effort was spent coordinating the integration of the battlespace as the Iraqi capability builds and the U.S. forces draw down to ensure a smooth, safe transition to Iraqi responsibility for security operations. "We can't just turn off the lights on 31 December 2011; it's got to be a coordinated process," the general said. General Kane made a point of how proud he was of the American Airmen who "invested their hearts and souls" in the training and advising and in developing relationships with the Iraqis. "The first class of Iraqi pilots to graduate represented five years of hard work by many, many Airmen," he said. One of the hardest things air advisors had to do was figure out when to stop the training and advising, something they really loved doing, and to let the Iraqi Airmen take full responsibility for the various missions. The first mission the Iraqis handled independently involved the C-130s at New Al Muthana Air Base in Baghdad. He reported that independent mission operations were still going well when he left. According to General Kane, the Iraqi Air Force Academy was reestablished at Tikrit Air Base, its traditional home, just before he left Iraq. "At the end of the day," one of the most important measures of success of the mission was the strength of the relationships his team built with their Iraqi counterparts. The general said his deployment to Iraq was a "great experience," and it was fitting that he could come back to Air University directly from his tour as a wartime commander and have an opportunity to help integrate the wartime lessons learned and ensure the relevance of the university's curriculum. "Air forces, by their nature, are more complicated and challenging to properly organize, and equip than ground forces, yet we got a late start in the case of the Iraqi air force," General Peck noted. "It does my heart good to see how far we've come in the time since I left the region, and I have considerable respect for the work done by General Kane and all the great Airmen involved in this effort. Current local change of command news briefed during the forum included the recent installation of Col. Brian Killough as 42nd Air Base Wing commander and the upcoming July 30 change of command to install Maj. Gen. David Fadok as the commander of the Curtis E. LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education.