Part Of A Training Program For Pilots And Maintenance Crews

Two Afghan Air Force students have gone missing from Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta, GA, where they were being trained in the A-29 Super Tucano LAS aircraft.

The two are Afghan Air Force students who have been training at Moody for nine months, according to a report from television station WJRN. The did not report for maintenance training on Monday, and the search began.

The two, who were not named, are part of a four-year program designed to teach train 30 pilots and 90 maintenance personnel in the A-29. Base officials told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that they had been screened before arriving at the base in February, and they don "not pose any apparent threat." However multiple law enforcement agencies are searching for the men.

After completing training in 2018, the pilots, along with some U.S. counterparts, are scheduled to go to Afghanistan to stand up an A-29 fighter squadron.

Television station WCTV reports that, according to Valdosta Police Chief Brian Childress said that there is "zero evidence" that the two are terrorists.

In a news release, Moody AFB officials confirmed that "two male Afghan air force students did not report for duty yesterday at their regular maintenance training at Moody AFB in Valdosta, Georgia. Both are assigned to the 81st Fighter Squadron. They have been at Moody since. February 2015 and were screened prior to their arrival in the United States more than a year ago. The students have trained alongside American counterparts for the entirety of 2015 and do not pose any apparent threat. There is a well-coordinated process among federal agencies to locate the individuals as quickly as possible and return them accordingly to the proper authorities to manage their present situation."

(Image from file)

FMI: www.moody.af.mil