DoD Activates Civil Reserve Air Fleet to Assist with Afghanistan Efforts

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin ordered the Commander of the U.S. Transportation Command to activate Stage I of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) on Sunday.

The activation will provide the U.S. Department of Defense with access to commercial air mobility resources to help in the evacuation of U.S. citizens and personnel, Special Immigrant Visa applicants, and other at-risk individuals from Afghanistan.

The CRAF is for 18 aircraft — three each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines and Omni Air, two from Hawaiian Airlines, and four from United Airlines. The DoD said it does not anticipate any major impact to commercial flights because of the activation.

The commercial aircraft will not fly into Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, but will be used for the movement of passengers from temporary safe havens and other staging bases. Activating CRAF increases the number of passengers who can be moved beyond present capabilities and allows military aircraft to focus on operations in and out of Kabul.

Part of the National Emergency Preparedness Program, the CRAF is designed to augment the DoD’s airlift capabilities and allows U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), the unified combatant command that conducts globally integrated mobility operations, to carry out national security interests. Under CRAF, commercial carriers retain their civil status under FAA regulations while USTRANSCOM exercises mission control via its air component, Air Mobility Command.

This is the third CRAF activation. The first was during Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990-1991, while the second was during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2002-2003). Using commercial planes expands USTRANSCOM’s global reach and access to valuable commercial transportation systems.