Iraq's air force returns to the skies

KIRKUK, Iraq — When Abu Mohammed walks down the flight line at a base outside this northern Iraqi city, there's a swagger in his stride. Engineers too young to remember Iraq's storied dogfights against Iran rush up to shake his hand.

For years, the pilot lived in hiding as a taxi driver. It feels good to take the controls of a plane again, he says. But the single-engine, turboprop aircraft in which he putters around are nothing like the fighter jets he commanded during the 1980s war with Iran.

Squeezing himself into the cockpit, he wrinkles his nose and sighs: "It's like going from a race car to a bicycle."

Grounded in 2003 when the U.S.-led invasion began, Iraq's once-powerful air force is taking to the skies again. Iraqi planes and helicopters conduct aerial surveillance, ferry troops and supplies, and recently completed their first medical evacuation.

But the country is years away from having enough aircraft, personnel and infrastructure to take control of its airspace from U.S.-led forces, American and Iraqi officers say. Until it does, U.S. help will be needed to secure Iraq.

The once-powerful air force was routed in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Despite fighting an eight-year war against Iran, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein sent more than 100 jets to his neighbor for safekeeping. The planes were never returned.

Iraqi pilots rarely took to the skies in the decade-plus era during which the United States and Britain imposed a no-fly zone over northern and southern Iraq to protect persecuted Shiite Muslims and ethnic Kurds. Many aircraft fell into disrepair because United Nations sanctions made it difficult to obtain spare parts.

Finally, when the American-led invasion began in March 2003, Saddam ordered remaining military jets buried in the sand. Air force personnel dispersed when the U.S. authorities in Iraq disbanded the Iraqi military, and the buried jets were never recovered.

With Iraq confronting a persistent insurgency, one has only to step into an American command post to see how critical air power has become to the country. U.S. transport helicopters and planes ferry troops, supplies and casualties across the country's broad open spaces, thus avoiding bomb-riddled roads. Unmanned American drones track insurgent movements. And attack aircraft are used to wipe out militant mortar teams or drop a bomb on an explosives-rigged house without risking the lives of soldiers on the ground.

Because of the technology involved, giving Iraq similar capabilities will be expensive — "very expensive," said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Brooks Bash, who is responsible for advising the new force.

It also will take time. Although a soldier can be trained in four or five months, it takes three to five years to become an experienced pilot and seven years to learn to maintain aircraft at the highest level. Air force personnel also need to be proficient in English, because that is the language used by air traffic controllers around the world.

At just more than 1,600 personnel and 70 aircraft, the current force is a ghost of its former self. Air force chief Lt. Gen. Kamal Barzanji said he used to be responsible for twice as many troops and aircraft when he was a base commander under Saddam.

U.S. and Iraqi officers have devised a plan to build a self-sufficient air force with 350 aircraft and 20,000 personnel by 2020, but doing so will require the Iraqi government to spend about $2 billion a year. "They are spending about a quarter of that right now," Bash said.

With sectarian bloodshed abating, some Iraqi reconnaissance planes will be fitted with Hellfire missiles by early next year. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also has promised to buy at least 50 attack helicopters. But his air force commanders complain that the government is moving too slowly. They want fighter jets.

U.S. advisers say those aren't necessary to battle domestic militants. But the Iraqi officers have not forgotten the war against Iran. They argue that their country needs a force strong enough to deter an attack by its neighbors.

"Our country is a rich country," Barzanji said. "Everybody who is rich has to have good security."

Fighter jets are the most expensive planes to buy, the most complicated to maintain and the most difficult to fly. Bash suggested that Iraq would be better off buying an intermediate type of plane that can perform acrobatics, to help prepare a new generation of pilots. Most of Iraq's experienced personnel are in their 40s and 50s and will soon be too old to fly fighter jets.

Abu Mohammed, looking sharp in a U.S. flight suit and aviator shades, said he has learned to use a new generation of technology since joining the reconnaissance squadron stationed in Kirkuk.

He earned his wings during the 1980s war with Iran. When the U.S. military began recruiting for a new air force, Abu Mohammed was among the first to sign up. Many other experienced pilots and technicians hesitated. Iraqi pilots are hunted down by Sunni Arab militants for cooperating with the U.S. military and by Shiite militants for participating in the war against Shiite Iran.

But with security improving, the force is attracting younger recruits.

"Our country is bleeding," said a 27-year-old engineering graduate training to become a pilot at Kirkuk. "Even if there are many, many bad guys, there are many of us who want to rebuild this country, and we will never let it go again."