VOA标准英语2010年-US Military Works to Prepare Afghan Ai

Afghan Air Force Sergeant¹ Hayatullah Bahar Jawazjani, far right, comunicates with his compatriots, Aug 2010. He has been working with US military personnel for the past six months and has taken on a leadership role.

 

The United States military is helping² build an Afghan Air Force - training pilots, flight medics and mechanics. The goal is to prepare the Afghan Air Force to support ground troops and allow U.S. and coalition³ forces to take a step back from the front line.

United State Air Force Major Micah West is one of three Americans helping train Afghan pilots in the southern province of Kandahar.  He is one of the aviators⁴ that are part of the 738th Air Expeditionary Advisory⁵ Group, which is helping develop the Afghan Air Force here.  Afghanistan's military will need its own air capabilities⁶ before it can take control of the country's defense⁷.

"You need competent helicopter pilots because of the way the country is built," said West.  "There is very limited infrastructure⁸ as far as roads go, there is only one big highway which goes all around the place, and it's obviously easy for people to target that."

United State Air Force Major Micah West, left, is one of the American aviators helping to train Afghan pilots in the southern province of Kandahar, Aug 2010

Before each flight, the unit discusses the flight plan.  Translators bridge the language barrier.  Instructors⁹ want to instill a flight culture similar to that of the United States - one of safety and planning.

"It's not going to do any good if we secure them here for two years," said West.  "We have to make them, we have to help them, set up a system which will work, you know, long-term whether we are here or not."

Sergeant First Class David Lara is putting flight medics through their paces.  He assesses the recruits, judging their level of medical experience.

"The medical is a big piece because you have ground medics, or ground personnel, that if they get hurt, and if they know that no one is going to come and pick them up they are not going to want to fight, they are not going to fight 100 percent," said Lara.  "But if they understand that if something happens and they get hurt, there is somebody out there that is going to pick them up, then that is a big morale¹⁰ booster for the ground forces."

Lara tries to keep the training positive and encourages the soldiers at every step.

Sergeant First Class David Lara, left, is putting Afghan Air Force flight medics through their paces as he works with Afghan Air Force Sergeant Hayatullah Bahar, Aug 2010

Sergeant Hayatullah Bahar Jawazjani has been in the Afghan Air Force for four years and has worked with Sergeant Lara for the past six months.  Jawazjani has taken on a leadership role in training his compatriots.

"There has been fighting my country for a very long time," said Jawazjani.  "So I joined the military to try and help my country and I became a medic to help with these disasters."

This is the only mentoring¹¹ unit for the Afghan Air Force in Kandahar at the moment. The 18-month-old program is limited to helicopters for now, but there are plans to include airplanes in the future.  The U.S military considers programs like this integral to the long-term success of the Afghan military and the country's future.
 

1 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

4 aviators   

飞机驾驶员，飞行员( aviator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Analysis on Sickness Status of 1149 Aviators during Recuperation. 飞行员1149例疗养期间患病情况分析。
• In America the whole scale is too big, except for aviators. 在美国整个景象的比例都太大了，不过对飞行员来说是个例外。

5 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

6 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

9 instructors   

指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The instructors were slacking on the job. 教员们对工作松松垮垮。
• He was invited to sit on the rostrum as a representative of extramural instructors. 他以校外辅导员身份，被邀请到主席台上。

10 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

11 mentoring   

n.mentoring是一种工作关系。mentor通常是处在比mentee更高工作职位上的有影响力的人。他/她有比‘mentee’更丰富的工作经验和知识，并用心支持mentee的职业（发展）。v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• One of the most effective instruments for coaching and mentoring is the "role rehearsal" . 辅导和教学的最有效的手段之一是“角色排练。” 来自辞典例句
• Bell Canada called their mentoring system a buddy-buddy system. 加拿大贝尔公司称他们的训导系统是伙伴—伙伴系统。 来自互联网