Showing posts with label NATO. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NATO. Show all posts

Sunday, October 30, 2016

JFTC Receives Visit from Resolute Support GO


"The Deputy Commander of the Resolute Support Headquarters (RS HQ), Lieutenant General Sandy Storie CBE, arrived at the Joint Force Training Centre (JFTC) to observe and support the last pre-deployment training for the RS mission in 2016. On 21 October he met with Major General Wilhelm Grun, the JFTC Commander and the Exercise Director, as well as with participants of the training".
Read more about the visit in "Resolute Support Deputy Commander Visits JFTC Pre-Deployment Training", JFTC PA Office, October 25, 2016.

Sunday, December 6, 2015

NATO Ministerial Meeting on Afghanistan

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) held a two-day summit on the Resolute Support mission for Afghanistan in Brussels, Belgium on December 1-2, 2015. Afghan Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani and other operational partners participated in the meeting which was focused on how allies and partners will continue to Train, Advise, and Assist the Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF) during 2016. In addition, mechanisms to finance the ANDSF were scrutinized.

NATO provided a press release at the conclusion of the meeting on December 1st where it stated that NATO Allies and Resolute Support operational partners have agreed to sustain the Resolute Support presence during 2016. In addition, NATO has agreed to continue providing financial support for the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) until 2020.

Monday, March 2, 2015

NATO RSM Mission - Facts and Figures

NATO has posted a document that provides the names of the Resolute Support leadership and key facts and figures on troop contributing nations. According to the chart over 40 nations are providing troops - From Albania to the United States. Some points of interest:

Macedonia is referred to as "the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia". I guess that is so we don't offend the Greeks. Countries from as far away as New Zealand, Mongolia, and Australia are participating. The smallest contingent is Luxembourg (1) and other smaller contingents include Estonia (4), Greece (4), Iceland (4), and Ukraine (10).

The nations providing the highest number of troops are:

United States - 6,839
Georgia - 885
Germany - 850
Romania - 650
Turkey - 503
Italy - 500
United Kingdom - 430
Australia - 400

Sunday, December 21, 2014

ISAF Legal Update on BSA and NATO SOFA

The ISAF legal office has published an online update and Fact Sheet on the Bilateral Security Agreement and NATO SOFA as it applies to contractors.

"Office of Legal Advisor gives update on BAS, NATO SOFA implementation", ISAF News, December 19, 2014.
www.isaf.nato.int/article/isaf-news/office-of-legal-advisor-gives-update-on-bsa-nato-sofa-implementation.html

ISAF / USFOR-A BAS/SOFA FAQs (Dec 14, 2014).
www.isaf.nato.int/images/media/PDFs/141214bsasofafaq.pdf

Sunday, December 7, 2014

JFC Brunssum Trains for RSM

Joint  Forces Command Brunssum is preparing the next rotation of personnel to man the desks and computers in Kabul and outlying areas for the beginning of the Resolute Support Mission that starts January 1st, 2014. Read more on the train-up the personnel will be going through in "Resolute Support Mission leaders train at JFC Brunssum", Allied Command Operations, December 3, 2014.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

NATO Agrees to RSM

NATO foreign ministers agreed (formally) on Tuesday to launch the new training mission for Afghanistan called Resolute Support. The new mission has been highly publicized and coordinated over the past year so this conference was mostly window addressing in terms of the agreement. (Reuters, Dec 2, 2014).

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Ghani's Remarks at NATO HQs (1 Dec 14)

President Ghani and CEO Abdullah visited NATO headquarters in Belguim and made some remarks at a joint press conference. His spokesman posted a video on YouTube with his comments in English. (December 2, 2014, 2 minutes).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YSCVqrxh1Y

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

SOFA b/t Afghanistan and NATO

Nearly everyone is tracking that the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) was signed by representatives of the Afghan government and the United States. This set the stage for the Coalition to keep a residual force in Afghanistan beyond December 2014 to conduct the Resolute Support mission - Security Force Assistance and Counter-terrorism. However, less people are aware that concurrent to the signing of the BSA there was a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed between Afghanistan and NATO. The long title of the SOFA is "Agreement Between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan on the Status of NATO Forces and NATO Personnel Conducting Mutually Agreed NATO-Led Activities in Afghanistan". You can read or download a copy of the NATO SOFA on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan.

http://mfa.gov.af/Content/files/SOFA%20ENGLISH.pdf

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

NATO Names Next SCR

NATO has appointed Ambassador Ismail Aramaz as the next NATO Senior Civilian Representative (SCR) in Afghanistan. Ambassador Aramaz is currently the Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to Afghanistan. He has extensive NATO experience - having served as Turkey's Deputy Permanent Representative to NATO from 2003 to 2007. Prior to that he was the Political Advisor to the Commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) from 2002 to 2003.  He has also held key posts at the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs dealing with NATO issues. The current ISAF mission will transition to the Resolute Support mission at the beginning of 2015. The SCR will play an integral role in the Resolute Support mission working with Afghan authorities, senior officials from other international organizations, and the military and civilian leaders from NATO and partner countries.

Sunday, November 9, 2014

NATO Chief Says Afghanistan Will Not Be Abandoned

The new chief of NATO - Jens Stoltenberg - says that Afghanistan will not be abandoned by NATO after its combat mission ends. Although NATO will finish the ISAF mission at the end of 2014 it will continue to support Afghanistan with the Resolute Support mission providing support and training. In addition, many countries will continue their financial support of Afghanistan; although at a lower level. About 12,500 troops will remain in Afghanistan after December 2014. Read more in "NATO Chief Vows Afghan Support as Combat Mission Ends", Defense News, November 6, 2014.

Friday, November 7, 2014

NATO Secretary General Visits Afghanistan

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is visiting Afghanistan (trip beginning 6 Nov 14). He will meet with President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah to discuss NATO-Afghanistan cooperation and the 2015 Resolute Support Mission. He will also meet with the ISAF commander (Gen John Campbell), other senior ISAF officers, NATO Senior Civilian Representative Ambassador Maurits Jochems, and others. One of his planned trips is to visit ANASOC Hqs as well as other ANSF units.

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

ISAF Fails at COIN

Our counter-insurgency doctrine states that for COIN forces to win the insurgents have to be defeated; for the insurgents to win, they have to survive. It is quite evident, based on the high level of insurgent activity in the 2014 fighting season, that Hekmatyar's Hizbi-Islami, the Haqqani Network, and the Taliban have survived the long 13-year long counterinsurgency effort mounted by NATO / ISAF in Afghanistan. Some observers believe that NATO is more suited for strategic level interventions and a cold war environment than a counterinsurgency environment. They believe the NATO organization (ISAF) is not structured for and does not do counterinsurgency well. Read more in "In Afghanistan the west suffered from institutional failure. Let's learn from it", by Afzal Amin, The Guardian, October 28, 2014.

Thursday, October 30, 2014

NATO's DEEP Training

A series of academic programs were recently conducted by NATO in Europe for the benefit of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). NATO's Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP) provided the opportunity for senior members of the Afghan Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Defense, and others to exchange ideas and explore operational cooperation.
"Defence Education Enhancement Programmes are tailored programmes through which the Alliance advises partners on how to build, develop and reform educational institutions in the security, defence and military domains. They focus in particular on faculty building and curriculum development, covering areas such as teaching methodology, leadership and operational planning".
Read more in "NATO and senior Afghan officials welcome enhanced relationship", North Atlantic Treaty Organization, October 24, 2014.

Tuesday, October 7, 2014

New NATO Secretary General

Mr. Jens Stoltenberg took up his post as NATO Secretary General on Wednesday, October 1, 2014. The former Norwegian Prime Minister was appointed by the 28 Allies in March 2104. Mr. Stoltenberg was previously Prime Minister of Norway from 2000-2001 and from 2005-2013. He is 55 years old, holds a postgraduate degree in Economics, was a member of Parliament, Minister (Finance and also Industry and Energy), and has worked for the United Nations. Read a NATO announcement here and his biography.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

Return to Hope: Afghanistan's Timeline

NATO has published a series of informative and interactive webpages called "Return to Hope". One informative part of this series is entitled Afghanistan's Timeline. While many know what ISAF is now and what it does; what is less known is the historical path taken to establish ISAF over ten years ago. Learn a little about Afghan history and ISAF history at Afghanistan's Timeline.

NATO - Wales Summit Declaration on Afghanistan

During its early September 2014 NATO summit in Wales the allies issued the "Wales Summit Declaration on Afghanistan" (see NATO press release 2014 - 121, September 4, 2014). There were nine paragraphs to the declaration. Topics included (1) honoring members of ISAF and ANSF who have served, (2) the fact that ISAF has assisted the Afghans over the past decade, (3) ISAF will end their mission in December 2014, (4) prospects for continued support to Afghanistan through Resolute Support, financial sustainment, and an enduring NATO-Afghanistan partnership, (5) NATO will continue to support the Afghan-owned peace process, (6) good neighbourly relations are essential (does this mean Pakistan as well?), (7) a stable Afghanistan is good for the wider region, (8) NATO is resolved to make Afghanistan "  . . . a stable, sovereign, democratic and united country, . . .", and (9) NATO is " . . . steadfast and resolute in our comittment to the Afghan people".


Tuesday, September 2, 2014

NATO to Continue Support to Afghanistan

NATO leaders at the Wales conference recently held reaffirmed their commitment to Afghanistan. This pledge included the continuation of the Security Force Assistance mission to be provided under the Resolute Support framework and the continuing funding of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) to the tune of $5 billion a year. Read more in "NATO commits to fund Afghan forces through 2017 as challenges remain", Stars and Stripes, September 4, 2014.

Friday, February 28, 2014

NATO Worried About Lack of BSA

At a recent NATO meeting in Brussels leaders reissued warnings about the lack of a Bilateral Security Agreement with the United States and how it would affect the future of Afghanistan. Read more in "Hard Talk Aside, Little Desire by the West to Leave Afghanistan", The New York Times, February 26, 2014.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

NATO and Afghanistan

Andrew A. Michta, a professor of international studies at Rhodes College, is interviewed about NATOs role in Afghanistan and what the future NATO mission looks like. Read "NATO's Post ISAF Challenges and the Danger of a Hollow Alliance", Small Wars Journal, January 23, 2014.

Thursday, March 21, 2013

NATO Says Progress Being Made in Afghanistan

The NATO Secretary General, Anders Rasmussen, says that progress is being made in Afghanistan despite periodic setbacks. He says that ISAF has shifted to a train, advise, and assist role with the Afghans doing the brunt of the fighting. Read more in "NATO Secretary General Discusses Progress in Afghanistan", American Forces Press Service, March 18, 2013.