Sunday, July 16, 2017

Advisors and the Afghan Security Institutions

Members of the TAAC-West medical staff and Police Advisory Team (PAT)
provide medical training to female members of the Afghan National Police (ANP)
 in Herat, Afghanistan. (Photo TAAC-West 2017).
The mission in Afghanistan is basically two parts. Part one is the train, advise and assist (TAA) mission and Part two is the counterterrorism mission. The majority of the NATO, partner nation, and U.S. troops are engaged in the TAA mission. Below are some recent news reports about the troops doing the TAA mission.

Advisors Needed at Tactical Level. Michele Flournoy and Richard Fontaine (both from the Center for a New American Security) list some lessons learned and provide some recommendations for the Trump administration on the Afghan conflict. Of the six or so lessons learned one seems key: providing more advisors at the tactical level (battalion) who are former U.S. battalion commanders and who have received MORE than two-weeks of training for their advising role. Read more in "The Afghan War is Not Lost"The National Interest, July 11, 2017.

Podcast about Advisors and the Insider Threat. The Modern War Institute of West Point has published a podcast by a U.S. Army NCO that experienced an insider attack (Green-on-Blue) at an Afghan police station. Listen to The Spear - An Insider Attack in Afghanistan, July 12, 2017.
https://mwi.usma.edu/podcast-spear-insider-attack-afghanistan/

Marines Back in Helmand Province. Two years ago the Marines left Helmand province after having spent millions of dollars in development projects and clearing much of the province of Taliban fighters. In two years the Afghan government and security forces managed to squander the hard-earned achievements of the Marines. Now the Marines are back again - at a significantly reduced force level to conduct the 'train, advise, and assist' mission. Read "Back in Afghan Hot Spot, U.S. Marines Chase Diminished Goals"The New York Times, July 14, 2017.

Marines 'Fly to Advise' the 505th Zone National Police. Marines from Task Force Southwest flew to the capital of Helmand province to spend some time with the Afghan National Police. See "Fly-to-Advise: Marines with Task Force Southwest visit the Provincial Headquarters"RS HQ, July 11, 2017.

AAF and TAAC-Air. Personnel from the 'Train, Advise, and Assist Command - Air' (TAAC-Air) and the Afghan Air Force (AAF) conducted a bilateral casualty evacuation mission and an aerial re-supply training exercise in July. See a news report by DVIDS, July 11, 2017.



No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.