Iraq Air Force Needs More Than New Coat Of Paint

Published: Apr 24, 2006
Source: www.defensenews.com



Home to hundreds of aircraft under Saddam Hussein's ousted regime, the dusty Al-Muthana air base outside the Iraqi capital today hosts just three lonely cargo planes.
After obliterating Saddam’s formidable air force in the 1991 Gulf war and the invasion of 2003, U.S. forces say they are now putting the pieces back together in the hope that Iraqis will eventually take over for the coalition.
”There were no usable structures, now you can see we have a fully functioning air force base,” said U.S. Air Force Colonel Steven Gregorcyk, one of a team of U.S. trainers working at the base.
The Iraqi air force totaled more than 1,000 aircraft before the 1991 Gulf war, according to Iraqi figures.
Coalition bombing knocked that figure down to around 300 in 1991 and all but a handful of those remaining aircraft were destroyed in the 2003 invasion.
The result has been that, as the Iraqi air force celebrated its 75th anniversary April 23, it boasted barely 50 planes and helicopters, most of them donated since the invasion by members of the U.S.-led coalition.continue..