Lt. Gen. Kamal Barzanji, from left, head of the Iraqi air force, U.S. Brig. Gen. Brooks Bash and Abdel Karim Aziz, head of the Iraqi Air Force Training School, attend a graduation ceremony at the school in Taji, on the outskirts of Baghdad, on Aug. 11. A class of 283 warrant officers graduated from basic military training in the Iraqi air force.Iraq's Air Force Taking To The Skies Again -- LA Times
Grounded at the start of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, the once-powerful force is being nurtured back into existence with the help of American trainers.
KIRKUK, IRAQ -- When Abu Mohammed walks down the flight line at a base outside this northern Iraqi city, there's a swagger in his stride. Engineers too young to remember Iraq's storied dogfights against Iran rush up to shake his hand.
For years, the pilot lived in hiding as a taxi driver. It feels good to take the controls of a plane again, he says. But the single-engine, turboprop aircraft in which he putters around in the sky are nothing like the fighter jets he commanded during the 1980s war with Iran.
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My Comment: The key quote in the article is the following:
U.S. and Iraqi officers have devised a plan to build a self-sufficient air force with 350 aircraft and 20,000 personnel by 2020, but doing so will require the Iraqi government to spend about $2 billion a year.
This is how long American servicemen are probably going to stay in Iraq .... the year 2020.