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US pilots and maintenance personnel are now training their Iraqi counterparts at Ali Base near Talil, Iraq, to fly the three C-130E Hercules the Iraqi Air Force received from the United States. Airmen from the 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron at Little Rock AFB, Arkansas, are working with personnel in the 23rd Transportation Squadron, which is expected to be fully operational by May 2006. In less than six months since the squadron was activated, the first Iraqi air force pilot and copilot recently flew without a US pilot in a flight seat position. The Iraqi navigator on the flight was also fully qualified. More than sixty-five Iraqi Air Force mechanics have now been trained.
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