Under the tutelage of airmen of the 438th Expeditionary Advisory Group, Afghans in a forward observer class completed all of their objectives at the range, March 16, just prior to their graduation, according to Brig. Gen. Michael Boera, commanding general of the Combined Airpower Transition Force in Kabul. “They met their goal for the exercise which consisted of more convoy escort scenarios than before involving hostile acts with friendlies in vicinity, and determining hostile intent,” he wrote March 17. The Afghans used the same equipment as US forward observers and they learned the same material as their American counterparts, according to Boera. This class is just one of many efforts underway by CAPTF to train the Afghan National Army Air Corps to be an independent and capable fighting force. (Kabul report) (For more on CAPTF, read An Impressive Operation.)
The first flight of the secretive B-21 bomber has slipped to mid-2022, but the program is moving along well, Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office director Randall Walden said in an exclusive interview. The second copy of the B-21, which will be used for structural testing, is now on the production…