The U.S. State Department Has Its Own Sprawling Air Force, Here's What's In Its Inventory - An INL A Bell Model 212.jpg ...

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As the United States continues to slog through nearly two decades of fighting in
Afghanistan, the fact that American diplomats and other civilian U.S. government
personnel still have to take short, but expensive helicopter rides to get safely
to and from Kabul’s airport and the U.S. Embassy there has made headlines. But
this is just a small portion of the Department of State’s Air Wing’s operations,
which span more than a half a dozen countries and involve hundreds of aircraft,
some of them armed. Now, thanks to a new official audit, we have a good sense of
just what’s in the inventory of America’s “other air force.”

In September 2018, the Department of State’s Office of the Inspector General
released its latest audit of the Air Wing, which is formally called the Bureau
of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs’ Office of Aviation, or
INL/A. As of January 2018, the organization had more than 200 aircraft, making
it one of the largest non-military aviation arms in a U.S. federal government
agency. Not all of those aircraft, many which have come second or third hand
from various U.S. government and other sources, are on active duty. In 2016, the
Government Accountability Office, a congressional watchdog, determined State was
also one of the top three federal owners of “non-operational” aircraft.

“The Department’s aircraft can be used for many types of missions, which vary by
location, and may include support for manual drug eradication, interdiction,
reconnaissance, surveillance, command and control, medical evacuation,
transportation of personnel or cargo, or other functions,” the audit noted.
“INL/A is responsible for overseeing procedures governing maintenance,
logistics, safety, and operational standards for the Department’s entire fleet.”

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The vast majority of INL/A active and inactive aircraft are variants and
derivatives of the Bell UH-1 Huey helicopters, which typically conduct light
transport and utility roles, as well as being able to insert and extract
personnel from remote areas and perform medical evacuations. The fleet of nearly
120 choppers includes ex-U.S. military UH-1H and UH-1V variants, upgraded Huey
IIs, twin-engine Model 212 types, and Model 214ST helicopters.


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Miloch wrote in
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-its-own-sprawling-air-force-heres-whats-in-its-inventory

As the United States continues to slog through nearly two decades of
fighting in Afghanistan, the fact that American diplomats and other
civilian U.S. government personnel still have to take short, but
expensive helicopter rides to get safely to and from Kabul’s airport
and the U.S. Embassy there has made headlines.


Just as in the last days of the Soviet
occupation, the "insugents" control virtually
the whole country while the foreign infidels
have a few large cities and a couple of roads
between them.