During the United Statesʻ decades-long efforts in Afghanistan, the U.S. trained 265 Afghans as pilots. All of them flew with honor, courage, skill and at enormous personal risk, but not all of these pilots worked directly for the U.S. – some were contract pilots working for a U.S. defense company under a contract with the United States. With the unprecedented rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan in 2021, over ninty percent of these pilots and their families were left with no clear path out of Afghanistan. They and their families were in peril of their lives because the Taliban had marked them for death as soon as the Taliban took control of the country.
Several U.S. veterans have formed a group, the 2430 Group, to help eighteen of these pilots and seventeen nuclear family members immigrate to and resettle in the U.S. All have been successfully extracted from Afghanistan and are living, supported by the 2430 Group, in Pakistan while they await Humanitarian Parole P-1 processing. The 2430 Groupʻs efforts have been totally funded by the veterans of the group from their personal resources. The Pakistani government recently threatened to deport these 37 people to Afghanistan unless they renewed their visas which cost $36,000, depleting the financial resources of the 2430 Group.
The 2430 Group has worked diligently since September 2021, already resettled over 770 Afghans, and has completed much of the planning for the remaining 37. The U.S. Department of State is now processing these courageous men and their families through the humnaitarian pipeline. Background checks are underway, but the Group expects that it will be another eight months before everyone is in the U.S.
It costs $5200/month to support these people in Pakistan and it will cost about $36,000 to acquire all the needed documentation. Together with travel cost and initial living expenses in the U.S., the Group estimates a need for about $200,000.
Recognizing that there are many demands on the resources of USNA alumni, your Chapter Board of Directors asks that you consider the needs of these courageous Afghans. You can find further information about the 2430 Group here: https://www.2430group.org/humanitarian-aid and you can contact Tom Schram, USNA ʻ69 at 513-871-7266 (M) or tschram@fuse.net with any questions.
