Showing posts with label Resolute-Support. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Resolute-Support. Show all posts

Sunday, December 10, 2017

Bibliography for Resolute Support Advisors in Afghanistan



The Annotated Bibliography for Resolute Support has been updated and posted. The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission ended on 31 December 2014 and the NATO Resolute Support Mission (RSM) began on 1 January 2015. The Resolute Support Mission is primarily Security Force Assistance (SFA) along functional areas at the ministry, institutional, and ANA corps level. Some advisory teams are working at the brigade and kandak level.

The bibliography will be very helpful for advisors at all levels in Afghanistan as well as staff members of the RS mission. It has links to hundreds of documents, papers, publications, and websites about advising, the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, and Afghanistan. The bibliography is updated periodically and the date of revision is posted on the first page. The publication is an Adobe Acrobat PDF, is more than 200 pages long, and is less than 3 MBs big. You can read online or download at the link below. Updated on 8 Dec 2017.

www.afghanwarnews.info/pubs/RSM-Bibliography.htm


Sunday, July 30, 2017

Resolute Support Advisors in Action

ANDSF test map reading test at Bost Airfield, Afghanistan
(Marine Corps photo by Justin T. Updegraff, July 16, 2017)

TF Southwest Advisors and Map Reading. After 17 years of conflict and training up the Afghan Army and police our advisors are still teaching basic map reading to Afghan soldiers and police. For the past three weeks U.S. Marines with Task Force Southwest conducted a map reading class for the Operational Coordination Center (OCC) at Bost Airfield, Afghanistan. Hmmm. I would think at this point we would be teaching some advanced topics like . . . I don't know . . . maybe the fine art and science of counterinsurgency. Is there anyone in Afghanistan teaching counterinsurgency? Is there a Counterinsurgency Academy somewhere in Afghanistan? Probably not. Read more in "Building the Foundation: Task Force Southwest teaches map class to ANDSF forces", DVIDS, July 23, 2017.

TF Southwest and Afghan ORC. The Operational Readiness Cycle (ORC) pulls Afghan army units out of combat and puts them through a training program for several weeks. In Helmand province this program is 8 weeks long. 2nd Kandak, 4th Brigade, 215th Corps recently completed its ORC in late July 2017 at the Helmand Regional Military Training Center (RMTC). Read more in a news release by RS HQs, July 24, 2017.

Great Progress? So the above article released by RS HQs would make you think that the Marine advisory mission in Helmand province is right on track. Ummmm, maybe not. Read "Marines facing 'discouraging' challenges in Afghanistan", CNN.com, July 23, 2017.

"Watch the Hands". Of course this TAAC-Air advisor is a pilot;
who else moves their hands like this in a conversation?
(USAF photo by Tech Sgt Robert Cloys, March 3, 2016).

TAAC Air Working with Afghan Air Force. A four-year, $7 billion expansion plan is designed to produce more flight and maintenance crews for the Afghan Air Force (AAF). According to Brigadier General Phillip Stewart, the commander of Train, Advise, and Assist Command - Air, "That is what will provide the asymmetric advantage to break the stalemate on the ground." Hmmmm. Really? A bigger Air Force is needed to defeat insurgents who practice guerrilla warfare? One that has no air force, no tanks, no armored personnel carriers, and no artillery? I believe the problems that the Afghan security forces have run much deeper than not having a big enough air force. But anyway, read "As U.S. weighs Afghan strategy, hopes set on fledgling Air Force", Reuters, July 23, 2017.

US SOF Trapped in Afghanistan. 70% of the offensive operations carried out by the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) are conducted by Afghan Special Service Forces (ASSF) - the special operations units of the MoI and MoD. The principle advisors to these ASSF units are U.S. and NATO SOF. The worldwide needs of U.S. SOF is immense and the Afghan commitment sucks up a lot of the US SOF resources. Read more in "SOCOM Is In A Prison of Its Own Making", Task and Purpose, July 25, 2017.

Task Force Southeast - Collective Training and Leader Development. One of the serious deficiencies of the Afghan security forces is the lack of leaders in both the army and police that are competent. The advisors and trainers of Task Force Southeast are using the collective training model (combining the army and police) as a method to develop the ANDSF leaders. Read "Training Leader Development: Fundamental to Afghan National Security", DVIDS, July 27, 2017.

TAAC South Soldiers End Deployment. Soldiers from Task Force Rakkasan of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team have returned home after working in the train, advise, and assist mission at Train, Advise, and Assist Command - South (TAAC-South). They were based in Kandahar province but also provided coverage into Zabul, Uruzgan, and Helmand provinces. Check out pictures of their homecoming at Fort Campbell, Kentucky in "Photos: 3rd Brigade soldiers come home from Afghanistan", ClarksvilleNow.com, July 23, 2017.


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, August 23, 2015

RS HQs Advise and Assist Cells

ACC-SW with ANA 215th Corps G3
Photo by Lt. Sharon Mulholland
As the United States military drawdown continues in Afghanistan the ability to station military advisors at the Afghan National Army corps level has diminished. Two of the ANA corps are now "uncovered" by permanent advisors. Instead an Advise and Assist Cell (ACC) advises these two corps from afar via phone and email as well as by conducting periodic visits. Resolute Support Headquarters has provided us an overview of one such Advise and Assist Cell mission in a recent news release (August 16, 2015).

In late July 2015 the Resolute Support Advise and Assist Directorate deployed a small team to a remote region of Afghanistan (we used to call this RC Southwest where thousands of U.S. Marines, Brits, Danes, and others were stationed). The ACC's advising mission was interrupted by the 215th Corps responding to a district in Helmand province that was under attack. Now Zad district was the scene of heavy fighting. The ACC had the opportunity to see the 215th ANA Corps battle staff in action.

The head of the Advise and Assist Directorate (ADD) in Kabul, BG Paul Lebidine, is quoted in the news release as saying that the ANA knows how to fight and that they have courage; but that the ANA really needs advise in gaining long term sustainability - therefore RS HQs is concentrating advising efforts on the detailed processes necessary to run a large scale army. The ANA lost the battle for Now Zad district and as of mid-August the Taliban flag was flying over the district center.

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Annotated Bibliography for Resolute Support Mission

The Annotated Bibliography for Resolute Support is updated and posted on the first day of each month. The ISAF mission ended on December 31, 2014 and the NATO Resolute Support mission started on January 1, 2015. The Resolute Support mission is primarily Security Force Assistance along functional areas at the ministry, institutional, and ANA corps level. The bibliography will be very helpful for advisors at all levels in Afghanistan as well as staff members of the RS mission. It has links to hundreds of documents, papers, publications, and websites about advising, the Afghan National Security Forces, and Afghanistan. The publication is an Adobe Acrobat PDF, is just over 200 pages long, and is less than 3 MBs big. You can read online or download at the link below.

www.afghanwarnews.info/pubs/RSM-Bibliography.htm

Friday, May 1, 2015

Bibliography - Resolute Support & Afghanistan

The Annotated Bibliography for Resolute Support - has been updated and posted. The ISAF mission ended on 31 December 2014 and the NATO Resolute Support mission started on 1 January 2015. The Resolute Support mission is primarily Security Force Assistance along functional areas at the ministry, institutional, and ANA corps level. The bibliography will be very helpful for advisors at all levels in Afghanistan as well as staff members of the RS mission. It has links to hundreds of documents, papers, publications, and websites about advising, the Afghan National Security Forces, and Afghanistan. The bibliography is updated every month and posted the first day of the month. The publication is an Adobe Acrobat PDF, is almost 200 pages long, and is less than 3 MBs big. You can read online or download at the link below.

www.afghanwarnews.info/pubs/RSM-Bibliography.htm

Thursday, April 30, 2015

SOF and Air Support to the ANSF Questioned

The primary mission of the NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan is to "advise and assist" at the corps, institutional, and ministry level. This mission means that for the most part, the troops are not engaged in combat. The extent of U.S. military forces involvement in combat operations in Afghanistan is restricted to "Train, Advise, and Assist" by special operations forces and air support where needed to prevent a significant setback of the Afghan National Security Forces. It is up to General Campbell, the commander of the NATO Resolute Support Mission and overall commander of the U.S. forces to determine how much or little SOF or air support is necessary. To some observers the departure of the bulk of U.S. forces in 2014 meant the end of the war - not so much. The ability of the Afghan security forces to combat and defeat the insurgents is still not mature. In fact, the fighting season ahead may prove to be just as tough as the 2014 fighting season. The Taliban are far from defeated and the Afghan Army and Police are not quite as good as Resolute Support HQs would like us to believe. Two writers seem to think that the U.S. military role is out of line with the assertions of the Obama administration that the U.S. is on the sidelines in the combat arena. Read "U.S. Attacks in Afghanistan Go Beyond White House' Pledges", The New York Times, April 29, 2015.

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Resolute Support Bibliography (April 2015)

Afghan War News has posted an update of the "Resolute Support Annotated Bibliography" (April 2015) on its website. The bibliography is an Adobe Acrobat PDF with over 200 pages filled with links to websites, documents, and publications about the Resolute Support Mission, Security Force Assistance, Advising, and Afghanistan. It will be extremely helpful to the advisor and staff working at the corps, zone, institutional, or ministerial level in Afghanistan. It is also a good reference for those conducting research or pre-deployment training for Afghanistan. You can view or download the publication at the link below.

www.afghanwarnews.info/pubs/RSM-Bibliography.htm

Friday, March 6, 2015

Pessimism vs. Optimism

SIGAR (pessimism) and RS HQs (optimism). If ever there was a difference in reporting on the situation in Afghanistan it is found in the differing accounts of how things are going in Afghanistan according to SIGAR and RS HQs. The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has consistently pounded ISAF and now RS HQs on the reconstruction effort while Resolute Support HQs (formerly ISAF) has always seemed to paint a 'sunny' picture. Having spent part or most of 2010-2014 in Afghanistan in both Kabul (ISAF HQs) and on the ground at COP and FOB level with tactical units I can say that my perspective is somewhere in between the two outlooks provided by SIGAR and RS HQs. The staff at RS HQs, in many cases, are clearly out of touch with what is happening within the ANSF below corps level (ANA) and regional level (ANP); while SIGARs reports are sometimes a little off the mark. Read more in "IG hints at command cover up of shrinking forces"Washington Times,  March 3, 2015 and "Campbell-Sopko feud on public Afghan audits spills to hearing"The Washington Times, March 4, 2015.

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

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Paper - "Resolute Support Light" by AAN

A paper just published examines NATO's new mission - Resolute Support - and provides some concerns and recommendations. The paper suggests that the RS mission and organization assumes that the primary problem with the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) is of a "technical" nature - the inability to provide fires, air support, intelligence, and logistics support to the ANP and ANA at the zone and corps levels and below. The author suggests that the primary problem with the ANSF is not "technical" but rather the existence of corruption, factional divides, and a "rent seeking" culture. Read the report entitled Resolute Support Light: NATO's New Mission versus the Political Economy of the Afghan National Security Forces, by Philipp Munch of Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), January 12, 2015.

Monday, January 5, 2015

Bibliography for Resolute Support (Updated Jan 15)

The Annotated Bibliography for Resolute Support - has been updated and posted. The ISAF mission ended on 31 December 2014 and the NATO Resolute Support mission started on 1 January 2015. The Resolute Support mission is primarily Security Force Assistance along functional areas at the ministry, institutional, and ANA corps level. The bibliography will be very helpful for advisors at all levels in Afghanistan as well as staff members of the RS mission. It has links to hundreds of documents, papers, publications, and websites about advising, the Afghan National Security Forces, and Afghanistan. The bibliography is updated every month and posted the first day of the month. The publication is an Adobe Acrobat PDF, is almost 200 pages long, and is less than 3 MBs big. You can read online or download at the link below.

www.afghanwarnews.info/pubs/RSM-Bibliography.htm

Video - CNN clip on New ISAF Mission

A recently published news video explains ISAF's new mission in Afghanistan - Resolute Support. There is a massive change in the size of the international forces and its mission. There is a transition from combat operations to a Train, Advise, and Assist mission. The size of the international force is now down to about 13,000 of which 11,000 are U.S. personnel. Combat operations are restricted to force protection and self-defense. There will be operations that will continue to target remnants of al-Qaeda still in Afghanistan. In addition the Coalition will provide limited air support to the ANSF. Watch "U.S. mission is changing", CNN International, by Jim Sciutto, December 30, 2014.


Friday, January 2, 2015

President Obama and "End of Combat Mission"

President Obama marked the end of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan and the start of the Resolute Support Mission (RSM). Read "Statement by the President on the End of the Combat Mission in Afghanistan", The White House Briefing Room, December 28, 2014.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

NATO Transition to Resolute Support

There is lots of news out there on the Internet about the NATO transition from the ISAF mission to the Resolute Support mission. The mission officially ends at midnight on December 31. Listed below are some of the news articles:

"Nato marks transition to new Afghanistan mission", BBC News Asia, December 28, 2014

"NATO-led Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan", NATO, December 18, 2014

"Nato ends its war in Afghanistan as insurgency rumbles on", The Telegraph, December 28, 2014.

"A Nation Towards Transformation", Khaama Press, December 29, 2014.

"The war in Afghanistan is over, but the battle against the Taliban - and their IEDs - goes on", The Independent, December 29, 2014.

View photos of ISAF's change of mission ceremony posted on Facebook. See "ISAF to RS Change of Mission Ceremony".

"Taliban vows to continue fighting as NATO combat mission ends", Khaama Press, December 29, 2014.

Operation Freedom's Sentinel is the name of the U.S. military's campaign in Afghanistan - replacing the 13 year long Operation Enduring Freedom.

Afghan Nat Sec Advisor Remarks at Ceremony

Mohammad Hanif Atmar, Afghanistan's National Security Advisor, made some remarks at the ISAF / Resolute Support transition ceremony in Kabul on Sunday, December 28, 2104. He expressed Afghanistan's deepest gratitude for the NATO Coalition's efforts and sacrifices in Afghanistan since 2001. Read his comments posted on ISAF News (Dec 28, 2014).

Monday, December 29, 2014

Transition Ceremony Kicks off Resolute Support Mission

The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) held a ceremony concluding operations in Afghanistan and transitioning to the new NATO-led Resolute Support mission. The ceremony paid tribute to the international efforts launched in 2001 to help establish a new government and security in Afghanistan. The Resolute Support mission will consist of more than 12,500 troops focused on building Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) sustainability. This will be done through the implementation of Functionally-based Security Force Assistance. The force will consist of 28 NATO allies and 14 partner nations. Under Resolute Support, efforts to train, advise, and assist Afghan Security Institutions (ASI) and the ANSF at the ministerial, operational, and institutional levels will focus on eight essential functions. These 8 EFs comprise the systems and processes required for the professionalism and sustainability of the ASI and ANSF. There was no mention of whether the NATO RS mission would advise and train the ANSF in counterinsurgency operations - an area in which the ANSF desperately needs assistance. Read more in "Transition ceremony kicks off Resolute Support Mission", NATO News, December 28, 2014.

ISAF Flag is Lowered in Afghanistan

A ceremony was held at ISAF Headquarters ending the NATO commitment to Afghanistan under the ISAF mission. Beginning in January 2015 NATO will continue to provide support and assistance to Afghanistan under the Resolute Support Mission. Read more in "NATO flag lowered in Afghanistan as combat mission ends", The Washington Post, December 28, 2014. See also "US, NATO mark end of mission to Afghanistan", Yahoo! News, December 28, 2014.