Canada's Joint Task Force-Afghanistan (JTF-Afg) Air Wing stood up at Kandahar Airfield on December 6, 2008, as a component of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). It includes 450 personnel, six Boeing CH-147 (CH-47D) Chinooks, eight Bell CH-146 Griffons, six civilian Mil Mi-8 Hips under contract, several Elbit CU-170 Heron unmanned air vehicles (UAV), and the Lockheed CC-130 Hercules which have been in the region since 2001. The Heron UAVs will be manned primarily by personnel of 14 Wing, CFB Greenwood, Nova Scotia. Operators will remain in theatre for seven months to provide persistent surveillance coverage to protect Canadian personnel in the country under Operation Athena, the code name for the nation's involvement in Afghanistan.
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