RAF MILDENHALL, England -- Far from home station and the KC-135 Stratotankers he normally maintains, one RAF Mildenhall airman now spends much of his time around Russian-built helicopters, as he instructs and prepares mechanics from the emerging Afghan air force on his trade.

Master Sgt. David Penisten, 100th Maintenance Squadron, is deployed to the 440th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron where he works daily at the AAF compound in Kabul training AAF airmen on Mi-17 and Mi-35 helicopter maintenance.

"Each day, I advise and mentor 45 Afghans on hourly inspections and heavy maintenance for Mi-17 and Mi-35 aircraft," said Penisten. "This entails maintenance issues as well as professionalization of their air force. We provide the inspection process for 100, 200 and 300-hour inspections for Kabul, Mazar-I-Sharif and Shindand aircraft, as well as Presidential Mi-17's in Kabul."

One major challenge maintainers face is lack of experience working on specific AAF helicopters. For Penisten, this challenge is compounded as the Mi-17 and Mi-35 are both night-and-day contrasts from the airframes he's typically maintained during his career.

"At first, I thought I would struggle because I have never worked helicopters," said Penisten. "I've come to realize that most of these guys [AAF maintainers] have been working these helicopters 25 years or more and that makes my job really easy. I'm not teaching them specifics, I'm more guiding them down a different path of getting things done."

Another challenge Penisten has is teaching Afghans to run an efficient foreign object damage program, he said.

"We are trying to teach them FOD accountability so we don't potentially damage the aircraft," said Penisten. "The Afghans were taught that soldiers will clean up once a week so FOD doesn't matter."

Penisten admits that most advisors agree their mission is demanding but that it's also unique. American Airmen aren't the only maintainers providing mentorship to the AAF.

Airmen from Croatia, Czech Republic, Mongolia and Hungary work in the AAF compound in Kabul. Elsewhere in Afghanistan, Belgian, Mongolian, Canadian, Singaporean, Georgian, Norwegian, Slovenian, Italian and Spanish airmen also mentor the AAF.

"Our coalition partners provide a technical expertise on Mi-17 and Mi-35 maintenance that is critical to our mission of training and mentoring," said Capt. Michael Bradley, 438th Air Expeditionary Advisor Group.

According to Penisten, mentor teams have limited supplies and tools, the AAF and coalition maintainers continue to make it work.

"We are showing the Afghans the importance of preventative maintenance, sound maintenance practices and how to manage their scheduled-maintenance program," said Penisten.

While coalition mentors deploy to Afghanistan then return once their tour is over, those whom they mentor are the future of Afghanistan, are already at home, and have a long but vital road ahead.

"The biggest thing I've learned is what the Afghans are really like," said Penisten. "They want peace for their country."

(Capt. Jamie Humphries, 438th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs, contributed to this article.)

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