Showing posts with label TAAC-East. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TAAC-East. Show all posts

Monday, January 12, 2015

TAAC-E Visit to Pak Border - Torkham Gate

A high level VIP visit to the Torkham Gate border was conducted by Afghan and Coalition members. The Afghan National Army Chief of Staff Sher Mohammad Karimi, RS Commander General John Campbell, and members of the TAAC East visited the Khyber Border Coordination Center (KBCC) near the Torkham Gate area of the Afghan-Pak border in eastern Nangarhar in early January 2015. In addition, key leaders from the Afghan National Army, Afghan Uniform Police, and the Afghan Border Police were in attendance. The KBCC is run by the Afghan Border Police and is located on the former U.S. Forward Operating Base Torkham. The base was transferred to the Afghans in July 2014. The visit by coalition personnel was the first since last summer - six months ago. There are a host of issues that need to be resolved concerning the border. Some issues have to do with the immense corruption that takes place among the Afghan Border Police and the Afghan customs officials. Other issues concern the relations with Pakistan, cross-border incidents of insurgent groups, insurgents firing adjacent to Pakistan border patrol locations, and Pakistani artillery firing across the border into Afghanistan. Read more in "TAAC-E troops advise Afghans on Pakistan military border coordination", RS News, January 9, 2015.

Monday, December 29, 2014

Polish Advisors now with TAAC East

After several months of preparation in Poland a unit of advisors has arrived at Tactical Base Gamberi to take part in the Resolute Support Mission as an element of the Train, Advise, Assist Command - East (TAAC East). They arrived on December 19, 2014 and are part of a larger Polish contingent known as Task Force White Eagle. The advisors are detailed to the Military Advisory Team and Police Advisory Team and are conducting a transition with the current advisors from the U.S. Army's 3d Cavalry Regiment. Read more in "Polish advisers ready for Resolute Support in Afghanistan", DVIDS, December 27, 2014.

Sunday, November 23, 2014

TAAC East and Task Force White Eagle

The Polish armed forces operational commander - Lt. Gen. Marek Tomaszycki - recently visited Train Advise Assist Command - East. He was briefed on the security force assistance mission in eastern Afghanistan. Polish forces, part of Task Force White Eagle, will be part of TAAC East. Their role will be to provide security and also perform as advisors to the Afghan National Security Forces. Read more in "TAAC-E welcomes Polish OPCOM, TF White Eagle", DVIDS, November 18, 2014.

Thursday, November 20, 2014

TAAC-E Soldiers Hold Veterans Day Ceremony

Soldiers of Train, Advise, and Assist Command East (TAAC East) held a Veterans Day ceremony at FOB Gamberi on November 11,, 2014. The Soldiers spent the day reflecting on the sacrifice of all veterans from past wars and conflicts. Read more in a news release by DVIDS on November 16, 2014.

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Laghman Province - ANSF Not Losing, Not Winning

A reporter provides us with a glimpse of the fight for Laghman province (home of the 201st ANA Corp headquarters). ISAF has two remaining bases in northeastern Afghanistan - FOB Fenty and FOB Gamberi. For the most part - ISAF combat troops have departed - only advisors, support personnel, "Guardian Angels", chopper support, and others remain. Laghman province, although quieter than Nangarhar and Kunar provinces, is an area that is contested by the Taliban. Read more in "Insurgents in Afghanistan's Laghman province may win by not losing", Stars and Stripes, November 15, 2014.

Monday, November 17, 2014

Korengal Valley - Heart of Darkness

The Korengal Valley holds a special place in the history of the Afghan War. Many of the U.S. military's fiercest fights took place in this area. The Korengal Valley is located in a remote part of Kunar province just south of the Pech River Valley in northeastern Afghanistan. A movie called "Restrepo" was filmed there by Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington. It has sometimes been called "the valley of death". (See maps, news articles, reports, and other information about the Korengal Valley). A recent news report provides some background about the Korengal Valley in "Heart of Darkness: Into Afghanistan's Taliban Valley", The Daily Beast, November 15, 2014.

Northeastern Afghanistan - Deadlock

The current situation in the north eastern provinces of Afghanistan (Kunar, Nangarhar, Laghman, and Nuristan) is in a state of deadlock - with neither the insurgents or the government security forces winning. A common axiom is that the counterinsurgent must defeat the insurgent to win; while the insurgent must merely survive. The Taliban have been able to move freely throughout much of this area and although they have been in numerous battles with the security forces they are not defeated. The insurgents have been able to mass their numbers and attack remote police checkpoints and district centers. Their ability to mass into larger units for combat is a direct result of the Taliban realizing that ISAF air support is being withheld or is no longer available. The mosaic that is north eastern Afghanistan is difficult to fathom for the ISAF advisor who deploys to the region for 9 months - the learning curve is great and once the advisor finally has his understanding of the region, its culture, history, politics, and human terrain - he departs (tour over!). Read a comprehensive report about the complexity of this four-province region in "Footsloggers, Turncoats and Enforcers" the fight along the eastern border", Afghanistan Analysts Network, August 18, 2014.

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Facebook - Train Advise Assist Command - East

Train, Advise, Assist Command - East (TAAC East) now has a Facebook account. The command recently transitioned from Regional Command East (RC East) to TAAC East. The Facebook account provides news coverage, videos, and photos about TAAC East.

www.facebook.com/TAACEast

Thursday, November 6, 2014

RC East is now TAAC East

The 10th Mountain Division is closing up shop in Regional Command East and heading back to Fort Drum, New York. 10th Mountain has been in Afghanistan from the very beginning, and the very end, and . . . a few times in between. In late 2001 elements of 10th Mountain deployed to "K2" in Uzbekistan and then later to Bagram Air Field as part of the initial conventional forces to enter Afghanistan (after the SF teams and the occasional CIA agent). The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is transitioning to the Resolute Support mission; and the Regional Commands are transitioning to "Train Advise and Assist Commands" or TAACs. Thus, RC East is being renamed TAAC East. Read more in "10th Mountain Division ends operations in Afghanistan, 13 years after it arrived", Stars and Stripes, November 4, 2014.

TAAC-East Replaces RC-East

Regional Command East is no longer with us. It has been replaced by Train, Advise, and Assist Command East or TAAC East. The RC had a two-star commander; the TAAC has a one-star commander. U.S. Army BG Christopher Bentley will lead TAAC East - an organization comprised of 60 division staff officers and Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division (Fort Stewart, GA) and 1,000 Soldiers from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment (Fort Hood, TX).

TAAC East's mission is to train, advise and assist (TAA) the Afghan National Security Forces in eastern Afghanistan. The TAAC is no longer advising at the tactical level; the organization will work to strengthen ties between the operational and strategic levels - providing the connective tissue between corps-level Afghan units to the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior.

The 201st ANA Corps is located in Laghman province and advisors will be stationed at FOB Gamberi to provide advise and assistance on a daily, persistent basis. It is believed that this is called "Level I" advising. The 203rd ANA Corps is located at FOB Thunder near Gardez; however, there is no "advisor platform" from which to project an advisory effort. Perhaps TAAC East will conduct "Level II" advising -which is basically a visit once or twice a month and some phone calls. (I wonder how that will work out?).

Read more in "3ID, 3CR form TAAC-E in eastern Afghanistan", DVIDS, November 5, 2014.