The final numbers on the the Air Force's Afghanistan activity

Mission Transition Task Force Commander Brigadier-General Charles Lamarre and his Command Team, load themselves into a CH-147 Chinook helicopter to conduct a flyover of Kandahar Province on 22 July 2011. The Mission Transition Task Force is comprised of approximately 1,000 personnel of all ranks that will be responsible to conduct mission closure of Operation ATHENA in order to enable the Canadian Forces to transition to subsequent operations as directed by the Government of Canada. Photos by: MCpl Dan Shouinard, Senior Imagery Technician, Mission Transition Task Force © 2011 DND-MDN Canada

While the Canadian Army was (and will continue to be) the focus of our military activity in Afghanistan, we should also note that the Royal Canadian Air Force (are we using that term now/yet?) also played a significant role, particularly the transport squadrons. Early on, some wished we had more air assets, particularly helicopters, in Afghanistan to move move troops and materiel about the country and help them avoid the IED perils on Afghanistan's roads.

The Canadian Forces notes today that air operations by Joint Task Force Afghanistan's Air Wing have now officially ended. In a release, Lt-Gen Marc Lessard noted that “it was the first military formation of its size and type deployed by Canada had deployed to an armed conflict since the Second World War.”

Since the Air Wing stood up at Kandahar Airfield 32 months ago on Dec. 6, 2008, RCAF crews have moved a total of 211,396 people and more than 37 million pounds of cargo. All told, Canadian helicopters and planes spent a combined 11 years (!) in the air over Afghanistan.

For those who counting, here's the numbers from the air force: