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last updated:8/10/2004
Inter-American Air Forces Academy
Lackland Air Force Base, Texas
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Description Law
The 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.”		 Legal 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.
Click to read the text of section 9415 of Title 10, U.S. Code. (From U.S. House of Representatives Internet Law Library)

Students:

IAAFA GRADUATES
(current as of January 2003)
BELIZE 17
ARGENTINA 502
BOLIVIA 1621
BRAZIL 292
CHILE 1564
COLOMBIA 6093
COSTA RICA 417
CUBA 263
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1308
ECUADOR 3494
EL SALVADOR 2290
GUATEMALA 1239
GUYANA 21
HAITI 46
HONDURAS 2235
JAMAICA 4
MEXICO 2387
NICARAGUA 828
PANAMA 1428
PARAGUAY 628
PERU 1643
SPAIN 2
SURINAM 6
UNITED STATES 58
URUGUAY 860
VENEZUELA 2509
IN-RESIDENCE 31766
Mobile Training Teams 4472
TOTAL 36238

  1996 [3] 1997 [3] 1998 [4] 2003 [4]
No. of students % of total No. of students % of total No. of students % of total No. of students % of total
Argentina 7 1.1% 19 2.2% 28 3.1% 16 2%
Belize 0 0% 2 0.2% 1 0.1% 4 1%
Bolivia 61 9.7% 91 10.3% 26 2.9% 76 10%
Brazil 2 0.3% 24 2.7% 7 0.8% 2  
Chile 5 0.8% 3 0.3% 7 0.8% 25 3%
Colombia 92 14.6% 128 14.5% 98 10.8% 188 25%
Costa Rica 21 3.3% 32 3.6% 36 4.0% 43 6%
Dominican Republic 15 2.4% 27 3.1% 26 2.9% 21 3%
Ecuador 65 10.3% 69 7.8% 32 3.5% 61 8%
El Salvador 85 13.5% 31 3.5% 16 1.8% 7 1%
Guatemala 0 0% 4 0.5% 10 1.1% 2  
Honduras 29 4.6% 18 2.0% 49 5.4% 22 3%
Mexico 141 22.4% 260 29.5% 336 37.2% 182 24%
Panama 24 3.8% 13 1.5% 10 1.1% 13 2%
Paraguay 1 0.2% 10 1.1% 5 0.6% 32 4%
Peru 22 3.5% 61 6.9% 111 12.3% 47 6%
Uruguay 17 2.7% 40 4.5% 27 3.0% 14 2%
Venezuela 43 6.8% 49 5.6% 79 8.7% 11 1%
Total 630 100% 881 100% 904 100% 766 100%

Courses:5

  • Click here for 2003 course descriptions.

All course descriptions are in Spanish unless otherwise indicated.

Pilot Instrument Procedures Transport Aircraft Crew Chief
Instructor Pilot Inst. Procedures Course PT6 Engine Mechanic
Search And Rescue A-37 Egress System
Electronic Fundamentals Corrosion Control
Advanced Digital Techniques UH-1H Helicopter Tech
Radio Collins VHF-20 A/M32A-86 Hobart
DME-40 Prime Movers
VOR/ILS Collins VIR-30 Armaments Systems Specialist
Ground Radio Comm Equipment A-37 Armaments Systems
Avionics Comm/Nav Equipment OV-10 Acft Tech
T-53 Engine Tech OV-10/T-76 Engine Tech
Aircraft Maintenance Officer OV-10 Acft Pneudraulics
Nicad Battery OV-10 Egress Systems
Aircraft Phenudraulics OV-10 Armaments Systems
Aircraft Maintenance Superintendent OV-10 Electrical Systems
Aerospace Ground Equipment F-5E/F Aircraft Tech
Fighter Acft Crew Chief F-5E/F Egress Systems Technician
Avionics Instruments Systems F-5E/F Electrical Systems Specialist
Aircraft Electrical Repair Logistics Management
Jet Engine Technician Supply Officer
Airframe Repair Inv Mgmt & Warehouse Sup.
Helicopter Mechanic Inv Mgmt & Warehouse Spec.
C-130B/E/H Acft Tech Information Systems
C-130/T-56 Eng Tech On-the-Job Training
C-130B/E/H Propeller Mechanic Technical Training Instructor
C-130 Electrical Systems Company Grade Officer Professional Dev.   (English)
C-130 Pneudralics Tech NCO Professional Development
A-37B Jet Acft Tech Air Intelligence
A-37B J-85 Engine Technician Security Specialist Air Base Defense (Level I)
A-37 Instrument Systems Special Reaction Team
A-37 Electrical Systems Security Specialist (Basic)
A-37B Aircraft Pneudraulics Specialist Military Justice and Discipline (English)
UH-1H/T-53/L-13 Engine
General Maintenance Technician-Sup.
C-130B Instrument Systems

Top attendance:

Rank 1996 1997 1998
1 Mexico Mexico Mexico
2 Colombia Colombia Peru
3 El Salvador Bolivia Colombia
4 Ecuador Ecuador Venezuela
5 Bolivia Peru Honduras
6 Venezuela Venezuela Costa Rica
7 Honduras Uruguay Ecuador
8 Panama Costa Rica Argentina
9 Peru El Salvador Uruguay
10 Costa Rica Dominican Republic Bolivia

Other sites:

Sources:

1 United States, Department of Defense, Inter-American Air Forces Academy, web page <http://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).

3 United States, Inter-American Air Forces Academy, Office of the Registrar, e-mail communication with the authors, March 24, 1998.

4 Foreign Military Training and DoD Engagement Activities of Interest in Fiscal Years 1998 and 1999: A Report to Congress.

5 Inter-American Air Forces Academy, March 1998, <http://www.lackland.af.mil/iaafa/index.htm>.

 

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