The third part of this series focuses on the Afghan National Police (ANP). Canadian Maj. Gen. Mike Ward, deputy commander-Police, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, recently briefed bloggers on the current state of the ANP and the progress made since the NTM was established.

Afghanistan created its national police academy about 75 years ago. However, the next step, a police staff college, has not existed for some 40 years. Many ANP recruits were going into the field without having been through the academy first.

NTM is working with its Afghan partners to create an ANP staff college as well as a non-commissioned officers academy. The Afghan National Civil Order Police just identified fifty outstanding NCOs who are being sent to a six month training course where they will emerge as officers. The Western model of a police officer working his way up the chain of command to Chief has not been the usual way in Afghanistan and this program will leaven the ANCOP officer ranks with men who have experience in the enlisted ranks.

Ward talked about the ANP’s reputation for corruption. A recent pay increase has brought police pay into parity with military pay. That has affected the need for shakedowns for many of the police. It has also increased recruitment.

General Ward told the bloggers that nearly 30 nations are providing training to the Afghan police, either through the NATO framework or in bi-lateral missions. Training is going on within Afghanistan at 27-30 different sites. At this time, NATO is concerned about building Afghan capacity so the policy is to use training outside of the country very sparingly.

One other issue that Ward discussed was the ethnic balance of the police. In this case, unlike the army, many of the local police units reflect the ethnic makeup of the local community. The national police leadership is reflective of ethnic balance, but the boots on the ground reflect their community. He pointed out that within ethnic groups there are tribal divisions, and it is possible that some tribes may feel unrepresented and left out of local policing.

SSgt. Sarah Brown, USAF, recently authored a piece discussing many of these same topics. Titled Fixing the Afghan National Police, it covered the work of the Kandahar Regional Training Center, where a six week course trains police recruits. Each session can train 316 police officers, and the trainees include many serving police who never received basic training. By October 2010, the goal is to have 109,000 serving Afghan National Police.

Major General Ward responded to a piece about the ANP on the CIGI website April 4, 2010. He identified the NTM priorities as “Quality and Quantity, and Leader development”. He identified long term staffing goals as having 120,000 police by March of 2011 and 134,000 police by October 2011.

Ward described the basic police training as 265 instruction hours with a week of 5.5 days. In those hours are 64 hours of literacy instruction for every new police officer.

It is clear from Maj. Gen. Ward’s comments that the ANP have some challenges to overcome. Additional personnel from both allied police agencies and the military are augmenting the training staff and mentoring existing police units in the field. The future course of the ANP remains less clear than of Afghanistan’s military.

The interviews about the training mission of NATO with the Afghan National Army and Police continued with Col. John Ferrari, deputy of programs for NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan, Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan.

Col. Ferrari talked with us about the logistics and contract management for both the Afghan National Army (ANA) and the Afghan National Police (ANP). It is very clear to NATO that the ability of Afghanistan to support and sustain its security forces must be encouraged and assisted. Little native industry survived the past thirty years of war and the Afghan First policy is intended to change that situation.

One of the ways that NTM is growing the Afghan economy and its ability to support the Army and National Police is by purchasing from local vendors. Brig. Gen. Gary Patton talked talked about the sole Afghan boot factory in his March interview. That factory has now produced its first 2,000 pairs of boots made to U.S. Military specifications and they are being field tested.

Col. Ferrari said that this effort has prompted at least two other companies to build factories to compete for the Army contract to provide boots. Uniforms for the security forces are also sewn in Afghanistan, though the fabric is imported. Several businesses are building in the hopes of entering that market, as well.

Ferrari also told us that in the next few weeks contracts would be let to women owned Afghan businesses for the provision of blankets and poncho liners. This is obviously something new for this generation of Afghans.

A company is setting up a furniture factory, with the hope of winning a contract to supply the security forces.

An army marches on its paper and the Afghan army is no different. Paper is imported but there are both public and private printing firms. The Ministry of Defense has its own printing plant. Local Afghan companies are printing materials such as pamphlets used in retention and recruitment efforts locally in Kabul.

Col. Ferrari pointed to the dates and goals which have been announced for staffing. This has enabled NTM and the Afghan ministries to project equipment needs and to plan contracting and ordering well into the future. Certain commodities may fall short in quantity due to unforeseen conditions but the logistics of equipping the new forces are planned and being prepared for.

The Afghan security forces buy their own food. With mentoring and training from NTM, other needs such as fuel, concrete and barrier materials, as well as water systems for base camps, will be moved to the Afghan ministries for contracting and purchasing by next summer.

As part of the forthcoming operations in the Afghan south in and around Kandahar, NTM is assisting with generating the necessary Afghan forces for the 205^th Corps, in units and not piecemeal. They are involved with refurbishing police stations in the city.

Ferrari told us about two large construction projects in the Kandahar area that will create local jobs and enhance the Afghan government’s ability to provide security in the region. They are:

• a joint regional Afghan police center which will be a state-of-the-art police center that houses the Border Police, the uniform police, the Afghan Civil Order Police and a brand-new regional logistics center that will support all the police in southern Afghanistan.
• a new regional military training center in Kandahar, where basic training will be done down the road.

Col. Ferrari recalled how the men who fought World War II brought their skills and discipline home with them and built the America we grew up in. They became “America’s Greatest Generation” out of the crucible of war. He likened this to the hundreds of thousands of Afghans who are or will serve in the National Army or National Police. They are learning skills, including literacy, that they will bring home when they finish their service. He feels we are potentially creating an “Afghan Greatest Generation” and through this uplifting the entire society.

June 7, 2010, represents the conclusion of the 104^th month of military activity by the United States in Afghanistan. That makes it America’s longest war, eclipsing the 103 months of the Vietnam conflict.

Our NATO allies have been with us since the beginning. This is NATO’s war, as it responded to the request of the United States under the NATO treaty shortly after September 11, 2001. NATO in in charge of the reestablishment and sustainment of a free Afghan government. NATO trains the Afghan army and police. NATO provides the overall command of much of the military in Afghanistan, sets strategy and tactics within the framework of the many nations involved in the effort.

The governments of the United States and Great Britain have determined to withdraw their forces in Afghanistan sometime in 2011, with the assurance that the Afghan national government can begin providing security and safety in the country. In order to permit this changeover, the NATO training mission has changed markedly in the last six months. A number of officers from NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan, Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan have spoken with bloggers in the last several days to explain those changes and the progress made in the last six months.

Those officers were:

• Brig. Gen. Gary Patton, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan Deputy Commander – Army Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan
• Maj. Gen. Mike Ward, deputy commander-Police, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan
• Col. John Ferrari, deputy of programs for NATO Training Mission – Afghanistan, Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan

The NATO Training Mission (NTM) was established November 21, 2009. In a previous interview, in March, 2010, Brig. Gen. Gary Patton talked about the reasons for its creation, and its goals. We have now received an update.

The current manning goals for the Afghan National Army are to have a force of 134,000 by October 2010, and a force of 171,600 by October, 2011. As of his interview with us on June 1, 2010, General Patton was able to state that the ANA had 125,694 men and women on its roster.

Patton told us that the attrition rate for the Army has been reduced from 3% per month in November, 2009, to 1.2% per month. Attrition is made up of those soldiers dropped from rolls for being AWOL, those permanently disabled and those killed in action. The reduction in the rate of attrition has been among those dropped from rolls. The General attributes that drop to increased pay, better Afghan leadership, improvements in base living conditions and an effort to create a predictable operational cycle.

The creation of various training academies with NATO assistance in staffing has allowed for a huge increase in the numbers of officers and non-commissioned officers who have been trained in a traditional Western manner. The officer corps training has gone from a capacity of about 1,600 per year to 4,500 per year. NCO training has gone from 1,900 yearly to 15,000. Driver training, a necessary but non-flashy training, has gone from 1,000 to 9,500 yearly.

Patton told us that one way they are increasing the number of NCO’s is by sending the top 150 Afghans completing recruit training on to an NCO course.

The Afghan National Army is presently an infantry heavy force, by design. It does not have the capacity to sustain itself. General Patton called 2011 “the Year of the Enabler”, as he talked about the establishment of national and corps level supply depots, creation of various branch schools such as engineers or artillery and establishment of the processes and procedures that move supply requests up and down the chain of command.

A success story is the creation of a consolidated fielding center. This is where Afghan army units are put together and trained as units. The training cadre for this school has gone from 65 to 300 personnel, reflecting greater emphasis on unit cohesion and experience.

This is the first of a multi-part series on the NATO training mission-Afghanistan, and the results after six months of operation.

Croatian and Minnesota National Guard Soldiers prepare to clear a room during an Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team training exercise at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center. Photo Credit: Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone Walker.

In preparation for an upcoming deployment to Afghanistan with Hungarian Soldiers, Staff Sgt. Timothy Harmon has given himself a crash course in the language.

Harmon and fellow Guard members recently completed Operational Mentor and Liaison Team training with their NATO counterparts at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center. The Minnesota National Guard also completed OMLT training with Croatian troops.

Harmon, a member of the Ohio National Guard, calculates that he knows more than 50 Hungarian words and has reached the point where he can engage in short, polite conversations in the language with the Hungarian soldiers that he will serve with in Afghanistan.

“I just want to be able to be more effective communicating with those guys,” Harmon said.

In all, 13 countries from around the world participated in OMLT training at JMRC. The training exercise included military personnel from the United Kingdom, Poland, Belgium, Spain, Germany, Romania, France, Hungary, Norway, Croatia, Slovakia, Afghanistan and the United States.

The training exercise gave NATO countries’ troops a chance to experience mentoring, coaching and teaching actual Afghan National Army soldiers. At the same time, 65 ANA soldiers here got a chance to work with troops from other countries who will be part of counter insurgency operations in Afghanistan. In Afghanistan, the OMLTs will coach, teach and mentor Afghan soldiers to take a leading role in defending their nation.

The upcoming deployment will be Harmon’s first to Afghanistan, although he has served a tour of duty in Iraq. It also will be the first time he will train, work and live with troops from another country in a combat zone.

The two weeks Harmon spent with Hungarians at JMRC along with the four months with them in Hungary has allowed him, not only to learn a new language, but it also has allowed him time to get to know his Hungarian comrades. During the OMLT training, Harmon was astonished by the Hungarian soldiers’ work ethic and eagerness to learn.

At the end of most days, the National Guardsmen knew where to find the Hungarian soldiers — outside the barracks in the grass continuing weapons training or practicing causality care.

“They are adamant about learning about the different techniques and methods we use in the U.S. military,” Harmon said. “It makes our jobs a lot easier and instills confidence in us.”

1st Lt. Josef Tulipan of Hungarian Defense Forces said working with the U.S. troops at JMRC was a mutually beneficial learning experience. Most importantly, it gave Hungarian soldiers insight into how American’s react in particular combat situations, he said.

“We learned how the U.S. Soldiers think,” Tulipan said.

Lt. Phillip Patti of the Ohio National Guard said training with the Hungarians here at JMRC gave troops from both countries a chance to complete critical hands-on training using equipment, aids and other assets that weren’t available elsewhere.

“It was a good time to get [the Hungarians] in the driver’s seat of a Humvee and behind a turret,” Patti said.

Like their Ohio counterparts, Minnesota National Guardsmen also completed combined OMLT training with Croatian troops at JMRC. Throughout their training, they also had the opportunity to train with the ANA troops.

Maj. Baer David of the Minnesota National Guard said the upcoming mission in Afghanistan will require his Soldiers and the Croatian troops to work together. Both vehicle and squad crews will be a mix of Croatian and American Soldiers. Training time together at JMRC was critical in ironing out any problems that could hamper the troops from acting as a unified team.

“It’s one team one fight,” Baer said. “We have to act as one unit.”

US Army
By Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone Walker

Today’s Bloggers’ Roundtable was with Col. John Agoglia, Director Counterinsurgency Training Center. A large number of bloggers participated and a number of issues were discussed.

Col. Agoglia corrected the media perception that Afghanistan had never had a functioning central government. The events of thirty years. 1970-2001, gutted the traditional governing methods of the nation. The government had functions down to the district level. The governance at the village and clan / tribal level would deal with the district when local resources did not suffice.

The Soviet invasion and then the extended civil war and Taliban rule broke those connections. Current COIN doctrine is to rebuild these connections and rebuild the confidence of the people in the government. Anti-corruption efforts are key.

Agoglia was one of the planners of the original invasion in 2001. He described the original U.S. position as one where we would chase al Qaeda and the Taliban and NATO / ISAF would enable the new Afghan government. A gap developed between the government and the people, resulting in the last three years of Taliban growth. The United States has now directed efforts to governance operations and change is coming, slowly. The media seem to want immediate results and that is just not the way change will happen.

Currently, the Col.’s group trains incoming NATO and U.S. troops, and a few Afghans. The direction is to enable the troop on the ground that they have to take responsibility for rebuilding the relationship between the Afghan people and the government. COIN is not an event but a mindset.

There has been a mindset change over the last year. Resources have been made available and a common strategy developed. The challenge is working through a tribal society to enable the resources and personnel to be available in synch with the local leadership, the government and the military on the ground.