Afghan crew trained at Boscombe Down (From Salisbury Journal)

Afghan crew trained at Boscombe Down

9:56am Friday 5th March 2010

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WHILE we are used to helicopters operating on and around the Salisbury Plain, for the last 14 months amid deep security, two Russian built Mi17 helicopters have been flying out of Boscombe Down as part of a project to train air crews from Afghanistan.

In an operation code-named Project Curium and shrouded in secrecy, the large transport helicopters, NATO Designation Hip, have been used by the staff of the Special Duties Squadron (SDS) at Boscombe to train 27 Afghan aircrew.

The trainees were selected in Afghanistan for their knowledge of English and ability in maths with nine selected to be aircraft engineers and 18 for pilot training.

On arrival in England, the students first went to the Defence School of Languages at Beaconsfield, then to initial flight training at RAF Shawbury in Shropshire before coming to Boscombe Down.

Wing Commander Al Smith said: “The students have made remarkable progress mastering a complex task in a foreign language. Of all the students who have undergone training here so far, only one pilot student has not graduated a success rate on a par with that of our UK students.

“ Two of the pilots, Kareem and Syed, were equally fulsome in their thanks to their instructors. We have learnt about British life,” said Kareem. “We are very happy with our training and the knowledge that we have learnt. All of the instructors have been very helpful now we want to get back to Afghanistan and help to defeat the insurgency.”

The project has been managed by the staff of Joint Helicopter Command from Wilton and supported throughout by QinetiQ who sourced the aircraft, brought them up to UK MOD safety standards and provided the full range of engineering support needed to maintain the aircraft.

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