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CAMP TAJI, Iraq (June 7, 2008) - An Air Force major here is
returning to the United States more than a year after he expected
to be home.
Maj. Jiro McCoy, commander of Mi-17 multi-role helicopter
advisors for the 770th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron (AEAS),
finally is heading home to Fort Rucker, Ala., after voluntarily
adding more than 18 months to what was supposed to be a six-month
deployment.
"I had certain expectations regarding our mission here," McCoy
said. "There were goals and objectives I wanted to see the Iraqis
achieve, so I extended for six months twice. Now that I have seen
the progress that they have made, especially in the tactical
employment of the helicopters needed for this combat zone, I feel
comfortable leaving."
The 770th AEAS is responsible for training and assisting two
Iraqi Air Force (IAF) squadrons in the process of setting up their
own helicopter wing here.
"We have been tasked by the 370th Air Expeditionary Advisory
Group, which is overseen by the Coalition Air Force Transition
Team, to assess, advise, educate, train and assist the IAF
helicopter wing personnel on providing counterinsurgency operations
via air support," the major said. "This process will help us to
transition the security of this country back to the Iraqis by
providing them the tools to develop operations, maintenance and
support capabilities through the establishment of self-sustaining
training programs."
These programs, which offer training of air crew, maintenance,
logistics and support personnel, do not come without obstacles, he
said.
"One of the biggest challenges we face is the language barrier,"
McCoy said. "This is especially important when we are trying to
train the IAF students how to fly, and we are using
English-speaking air traffic control."
Although the language barrier requires more creative ways of
communicating, the Jackson Hole, Wyo., native has experienced these
challenges before, he said.
"I was previously deployed here in March 2005," the major said.
"At that time, this idea was in its infancy and we were the first
advisory team to arrive. Our first task was to find a way to
organize the IAF in order to allow them to operate more like a
wing."
At the time, however, the advisors had to rely on books and
electronic presentations.
"Once we were able to actually provide visual, hands-on
demonstrations, the Iraqis' morale and motivation increased
substantially," he said. "We were able to take everything we
discussed and show them how to put our theories into action. The
IAF personnel are very interested in learning from us, but they are
a visual culture, and their strengths lie in being able to actually
carry out the actions, as opposed to just talking about it."
The major proved to be instrumental in getting the Iraqi pilots
back in the air and performing missions in support of maintaining
the country's national sovereignty.
"When Major McCoy first arrived here, they had no aircraft and
were not flying at all," said Air Force Lt. Col. Mark Daley, the
770th AEAS commander, deployed from Andrews Air Force Base, Md. "He
took them from zero flying missions to having four squadrons that
are flying daily combat missions in Iraq with three different types
of helicopters."
Although many of the Iraqi students came to the squadron with
many years of experience as pilots from Saddam Hussein's military,
there was still quite a bit of training that had to take place for
them to be operational.
"They definitely have the flying expertise in the Mi-17s, and
they end up teaching us a lot about that particular aircraft,"
McCoy said. "However, we are transitioning them to the UH-60 Hueys
and OH-58 Kiowas as well, and they are not used to employing the
tactical operations which are needed for this type of a combat zone
environment."
In addition to training the Iraqis on aircraft maneuvers, the
trainers work on having a more personal relationship with the
trainees.
"Major McCoy has become a close personal friend and confidant to
just about every Iraqi Air Force member on Taji base," Daley said.
"The time he has taken to build personal relationships has given
him the trust of the Iraqis here and the ability to help them build
an effective rotary-wing force."
This mission is not only important to the major, but to the
Iraqi military as well.
"Rotary-wing capability is critical to transporting people and
supplies quickly and safely throughout the country and enabling
security personnel to move more rapidly around the country to
preempt or respond to security problems," Daley said. "Once this
wing is fully operational, the IAF squadrons will be able to
provide the government of Iraq the flexibility and functionality it
needs to maintain its own internal security."
However, this mission would be more difficult if the squadrons
did not share the relationships on a personal level.
"We spend a lot of time just talking or drinking chai with our
Iraqi counterparts, which ultimately helps us to better understand
each other and the differences between our cultures," the major
said. "This also allows us to establish a rapport that ultimately
transfers over to our training areas and is instrumental in being
able to communicate our ideas better, regardless of the language
barriers."
Although the language barrier is difficult to work with, somehow
McCoy has been able to relate with the Iraqis on a common middle
ground.
"Major McCoy is the epitome of a great advisor," Daley said. "He
understands that, in order to be a good advisor, you have to become
a part of the organization you are advising. Major McCoy has been
most influential by building trust and having the ability to
influence by showing he truly cares and empathizes with their
situation."
However, the major also has been affected personally by this
deployment.
"To be a part of such a unique and important mission has been
challenging and especially rewarding," he said. "Knowing I was able
to help to teach a foreign country how to increase their defense
capabilities is a great feeling. I believe I have gotten them far
enough along, and now it's time to go back, regroup and possibly
come back at a later date. But I leave here knowing the Iraqi
students are able to do it on their own, so we have achieved our
goal."
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