The Secretary of the Air Force approved the Afghan Air Force A-29 training program to be extended here until Dec. 31, 2020.

This extension is based on the Afghanistan Air Force receiving six additional A-29 Super Tucano aircraft driving requirements for nine more pilots and 20 maintainers.  

Since 2013, the United States Air Force has procured 20 A-29 aircraft for training and operational use by the Afghan Air Force. Training for these aircraft is conducted at Moody Air Force Base per a June 2014 strategic basing decision.

To support the training mission, the 81^st Fighter Squadron was established in October 2014 and students began training in February 2015. The training plan was designed to produce 30 pilots and 90 maintainers through December 2018. To date, 17 pilots and 48 maintainers have been trained and have returned to Afghanistan.