Afghanistan became the seventieth country to operate C-130s on 9 October 2013, as the first two Hercules for the Afghan Air Force, or AAF, were flown to Kabul International Airport. The C-130Hs were transferred from the US Air Force. Maj. Gen. Abdul Wahab Wardak, the AAF commander, and Ambassador James B. Cunningham, US Ambassador to Afghanistan, spoke at the event. Following the formal ceremony, attendees watched a low-level flyby. After landing, 1st Lt. Khial Shinwari, one of the first two AAF C-130 pilots, opened the hatch and waved the Afghan flag as the aircraft came to a stop. A joint Afghan-NATO flight crew conducted the first operational AAF C-130 mission the next day, delivering Mi-17 helicopter parts to Kandahar Airfield.
