Efforts to rebuild the Iraqi air force will take a big step forward this month when Cessna AC-208 Combat Caravans are cleared to start shooting laser-guided Hellfire missiles.rnRebuilding the service was always a tall order, and the task is even more difficult now that the coalition advisers have less time than initially envisioned to complete their activities.rnWhen the U.S.-led team first started working with Iraqis to build their air force from the ground up, U.S. military planners thought the fledgling service would be able to fly on its own in 2016. But owing to the Iraqi-U.S. status-of-forces agreement-which specifies that U.S. troops withdraw by Decemberrn2011-only 26 months are left to finish the rebuilding task.
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