Reports & Books & Pubs

New Book on Lessons Learned. Richard D. Hooker, Jr. and Joseph J. Collins have edited a book entitled Lessons Encountered: Learning From the Long War, September 2015. The book is available (free) as a PDF file on the website of the National Defense University Press (Washington, D.C.). It covers the period beginning in 2001 to recent events in Afghanistan and Iraq. Of particular interest to Security Force Assistance advisors working in the Essential Functions area in Afghanistan is Chapter 4: "Raising and Mentoring Security Forces in Afghanistan and Iraq" by T.X. Hammes. I like the title "Lessons Encounter" - as we as a military seem to not "learn" from our past conflicts we only seem to "observe" the lessons.
http://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/Books/lessons-encountered/lessons-encountered.pdf

Afghanistan and Failed Wars. Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS) provides us with a 219 page slide presentation about the conflict in Afghanistan. His publication Afghanistan and "Failed State Wars": The Need for a Realistic Transition, is dated September 29, 2015. A very informative document (pdf) that gives us updated information on the political, military, economic, and security situation in Afghanistan.

AR 34-1. The Department of the Army has updated Army Regulation 34-1, Multinational Force Interoperability, July 10, 2015. Annex B-3, para c., (5), (b) says U.S. Army SGMs shouldn't expect the Brits to wear their headgear on the Resolute Support compound in Kabul.
www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r34_1.pdf