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Inter-American Air Forces Academy:
Institution DescriptionThe Inter-American Air Forces Academy (IAAFA), currently located at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, was founded in 1943 and currently defines its mission as providing "professional, technical, and managerial training in Spanish, to military forces and governmental agencies of Latin America and the Caribbean."[1] The school describes itself as promoting "inter-Americanism," seeing U.S. aviation training for Latin American military personnel as enhancing possibilities for "interoperability." The IAAFA is presently integrated into the U.S. Air Force's training regimen, under the authority of the Air Force Education and Training Command. Like the U.S. Army's former School of the Americas, the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, the IAAFA is a major U.S. destination for Latin American military trainees. In the most recent year for which annual numbers are available, 1998, the IAAFA trained 904 Latin American students.[2] While the academy itself is located at Lackland, some of its training takes place elsewhere in San Antonio, at Kelly Air Force Base and Camp Bullis. The 2002 course catalog for the school lists the following kinds of courses:
- Search and rescue,
- Pilot instruction,
- Communications equipment,
- Repair and maintenance,
- Logistics and supply management, and
- Intelligence.
The fixed cost of running the Academy comes out of the Air Force's operation and maintenance budget and is not considered part of "security assistance." [1] United States, Department of Defense, Inter-American Air Forces Academy, web page www.lackland.af.mil/iaafa/>. [2] United States, Department of Defense and Department of State, Foreign Military Training and DoD Engagement Activities of Interest in FY 98 and 99, A Report to Congress (Washington: 1999).
Inter-American Air Forces Academy: LawLegal authority for the Academy is located in Section 9415 of Title 10, U.S. Code. Under the law, the Academy may provide education and training to Latin American nations that are eligible to receive assistance under the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (P.L. 87-195, or the "FAA"), as amended.
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