COMISAF Briefing to DoD Press (2 Oct 14)

ISAF News has posted the transcript of General John Campbell's (COMISAF) press briefing to the DoD press corps on October 2, 2014. Some of his main points in his address covered the transition from the ISAF mission to Resolute Support, the political transition to the new president, and the signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) and the NATO SOFA. He made his opening comments and then answered questions from the press. Snippets of the press conference are provided below.

He stated that there are currently a total of 40,000 troops on the ground (U.S. and other troop contributing nations) with aim of being down to 12,500 at the end of 2014. He sees 2015 as a train, advise and assist mission against four of the six ANA corps and at the ministerial level. The advising effort is no longer at the brigade or kandak level; but at the corps level and above. The remaining bases after 2014 will be in Jalalabad, Gamberi, Bagram, Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, Kandahar, and Kabul. As COMISAF he has been focusing on " . . . the security institutions, the ministry of interior, the ministry of defense, the national security adviser, NDS, and then working with both President Ghani and Mr. Abdullah . . ."

He says that despite the late signing of the BSA - ISAF is still on a good glide path to get to the Resolute Support mission set. There are less than 30 bases left and many of those will close before the end of the year. He identified some shortfalls of the ANSF that need improvement - to include aviation, close air support, intelligence, logistics, and sustainment.

Campbell was asked if the U.S. will " . . . be in a position to provide air support to the ANSF after this year? And would that include both close-air support and medevac missions . . ." He pretty much dodged that question; although he indicated that there is diminished air support capability under Resolute Support.

He was asked about SIGARs reports on how US money is being spent and the lack of oversight; his response is they are working closely with SIGAR, the MoD, and MoI and have tightened up some of the oversight procedures to get more transparency.

The subject of Mi-17s for the Afghan Air Force was brought up by a reporter. Currently there are 84 Mi-17s in Afghanistan with a target of 87 (3 more to go). He calls the Mi-17s a "game changer".

You can read the transcript in full at the link below:
www.isaf.nato.int/article/isaf-news/dept.-of-defense-press-briefing-by-gen.-campbell-oct.-2-2014.html