Joint Croatian-Czech training of Air Advisory Teams started

This is a joint training of Croatian and Czech helicopter crews and aircraft maintenance technicians as part of the pre-deployment training and preparation of members who will be deployed in ISAF operation in Afghanistan as 5^th Air Advisory Team (AAT).

Flight training is conducted on the Mi-171 Sh helicopters, preceded by one-week training on simulator in Ostrava in the Czech Republic. The training includes theoretical and general preparation for the operation, as well as functional part for the flight and ground groups, ending with practical flight training. The course was jointly designed by Croatian and Czech teams with advisory support of the institutions and units of the United States Armed Forces.

Commander of the course is Croatian pilot Colonel Michael Križanec. The training will be followed by evaluation for mission readiness of forces at the national level, and the rotation of forces. Task of the advisory team in Afghanistan will be training of helicopter squadron of the Afghan Air Force (AAF) by the NATO standards and procedures at KAIA Kabul airport.

In addition to regular duties, the implementation of this training, as well as other training activities, develops 93^rd Air Force Base to Multinational Centre for pre-deployment and other forms of helicopter pilots training.

This joint training is conducted within the NATO “Smart Defence” initiative.