RAF in Kabul

You often hear about our people in Kandahar and Bastion, in particular stories about the key jobs RAF aircrews, force protection and medics do, but you may not know that we also have people co-ordinating activities in the Headquarters in Kabul? Kabul is, after all, the nerve centre in the campaign against the insurgents.

The ISAF Joint Command (IJC) headquarters in Kabul focuses its activities on operations and development across Afghanistan, with the aim of defeating the Taliban through Counter Insurgency and changing the Afghan people’s perceptions of the ISAF forces, no easy task.

The IJC is located near the Kabul International Airport and has more than 1,000 personnel from 43 member nations of the international coalition, including 50 people from the RAF.

From an air perspective, the Headquarters has a big task, not only in supporting military operations, both ISAF and ANSF, but also in the development of the Afghan National Army Air Corps (ANAAC) and the civil aviation structures, airspace and organizations. Here we speak to some of the RAF personnel behind the operations:

Air Commodore Alistair Monkman - Director Air Ops ISAF Joint Command

Cpl Kelly Snelling – IT Manager

Flight Lieutenant Catherine Baily - IJC Logistic Planner Future Ops

Wing Commander Greg Hammond – SO1 National Contingency Cdr Plans

Wg Cdr Dick MacCormic – Deputy Director Afghan Assessment Group

Sqn Ldr Paddy Curran – HQ ISAF

Sqn Ldr Andrew ‘Daisy’ Butterfield

Sqn Ldr Mike Bracken – ISAF Special Ops Air Derective

Flying Officer Gareth Paddock – Assistant Liaison Officer to HQ ISAF NCSA

Flt Lt Katie Issitt – Targeting Cell

Editor: Sqn Ldr S N Moore.

Photography: Corporal Dave Blackburn RAF.