Marines Train at 29 Palms for Afghan Deployment

Members of 1st Battalion 7th Marines have been training at a modern training facility located at Twentynine Palms in California. The use of the range set up as an Afghan town also includes a number of Afghan role players to provide realism to the training.
(Photo by CPL Joseph Scanlon, USMC)

Read more in "Infantrymen work hand in hand with Afghans during counterinsurgency exercise", DVIDS, December 19, 2013.

SFAAT Provides Assistance to OCC-R for OCC Foundation Course in Laghman Province (RC East)

Graduates of the OCC Foundation Course
hold the completion certificates.
(Photo Spc. Philip Steiner)

The Security Force Assistance Advisory Team or SFAAT advising the Operation Command Center - Region or OCC-R in Laghman province has successfully assisted the OCC-R in the conduct of a Operation Command Center Foundation Course.  This 21-day course is designed to teach Afghan ANP and ANA students topics such as map reading, computer work, and intelligence fusion. The OCC-R SFAAT is based on FOB Gamberi and works along side the OCC-R Afghan staff on a daily basis.  The foundation course will go a long way to ensure that the Afghan members of the OCC-R (and OCC-Ps) will be able to function independently of U.S. military advisers (SFAATs) at some point in the near future.

You can read more about the OCC-R and the OCCP Foundation Course in "Afghans leading the way in Laghman province", DVIDS, February 6, 2013 at the link below.

http://www.dvidshub.net/news/101541/afghans-leading-way-laghman-province

Fake Afghan Village at JRTC (Fort Polk, LA) Helps Train Troops for Deployment

One of the training venues that U.S. troops use to prepare for deployment to Afghanistan is a fake Afghan village with Afghan role players located at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana. The village provides realistic training to troops who will have to interact with Afghans in a counterinsurgency role. Read more in "The Army Built A Fake Afghan Village In Louisiana So Soldiers Can Practice", Business Insider, March 24, 2012.

Special Forces Mission to Increase in Afghanistan

As overall U.S. troop strength in Afghanistan lowers special operations forces will increase their activity.  This will be primarily in the training and advisory arena; for which Special Forces training makes them uniquely qualified for.  Read more in "Special Forces in Afghanistan: not just taking out terrorists anymore", The Christian Science Monitor, February 16, 2012.

Afghan COIN Instructors Provide Training in Counterinsurgency to Other Afghan Units

An instructor with the 8th Commando
Kandak provides range commands
during training. (U.S. Navy Photo
by MCS 2nd Class Jacob Dillon)

In the process of transition to Afghans taking the lead in planning operations and doing the bulk of the fighting it is important to yield training duties to the Afghans as well. At the Counterinsurgency Training Center this path is now traveled.  A recent news release by the NATO Training Mission Afghanistan (NTM-A) we see an example of this "training transition".  See "205th Afghan National Army Corps Receives COIN training from Afghan Instructors", NTM-A, February 12, 2012.

Canadian Generals to Head Afghan Training Programs

Two Canadian generals will be heading up the training programs for the Afghanistan police and army.  As Canada transitions from combat operations in southern Afghanistan to a training role many of its troops will go home - probably in about one half year.  The training effort will require about 900 Canadian troops who will be stationed primarily in the Kabul area.  Read more in "Canadian generals to oversee critical Afghan training programs", The National Post, February 13, 2011.

Afghan National Border Police Receives Contraband Training in Afghanistan

Members of the Afghan National Border Police received training in customs and border procedures recently in Afghanistan.  A Military Police platoon of the 10th Mountain Division provided the training with assistance from the U.S. Customs Border Patrol.  The training was for a Contraband Enforcement Team (CET).  Read more in "Ready, CET, Go! A new training program begins at Afghan border", dvidshub.net, January 16, 2011.

$20 Billon spent in 2010 and 2011 for Afghan Training

A recent news article provides some details on the amount of money spent or that will be spent in two years for the Afghan security forces.  See "$20 billon over 2 years for Afghan training", The Washington Post, January 5, 2011.

Afghan Artillery Students Train on 122mm Howitzer

Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael James

The Artillery School at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC) recently took to the field to conduct a live fire gunnery exercise.  The students fired the 122mm howitzer.  Upon receipt of further training and graduation the artillery students will be assigned to the 205th Corps as fully qualified gunners.  Read more in "Live Fire Exercise demonstrates artillery school's capabilities", NTM-A, December 29, 2010.

DynCorp Wins Contract Training Afghan National Police (ANP) - Despite an Unsuccessful Past in Afghanistan

DynCorp, a large contracting firm providing police and military contractors and instructors worldwide, has again won a lucrative contract training the Afghan National Police (ANP).  The ANP is a corrupt and untrained force and DynCorp is partially responsible for its failure. Yet DynCorp seems to have won the contract.  Is this just another case of the lowest bidder winning out?  Hmmmmmmm.  Read the rest of the article in "Mercs Win Billion Dollar Afghan Cop Deal. Again.", Wired.com Danger Room, December 21, 2010.

Canadian Training Mission in Afghanistan Still in Planning Stages

The transition to a combat role to a training role for Canadian military members in Afghanistan is still in the early planning stages. Various options will be explored over the coming months.  It is likely that about 900 military members will be working on the large NATO base in the Kabul area.  Read more in "Details of Afghanistan training mission still undecided", The Globe and Mail, December 1, 2010.

The Difficulties of Training Afghan Forces

There are too few NATO trainers for the Afghan security forces, too many Afghan deserters, and corruption erodes the efforts at many levels.  The Afghan police do not understand the laws they are supposed to uphold and the Afghan population see the Afghan police as predatory militias.  Read more on a posting of the Afghan situation from Sangin, Afghanistan by a correspondent.  See "Why it's so hard for NATO to train Afghan forces", Christian Science Monitor, December 2, 2010.

Canadian Troops will Shift from Combat Role to Training Afghans

It is unfortunate that it took the United States military and other coalition partners so long to realize that foreign troops in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban is a difficult prospect at best and leads to alienation of the rural population against the perceived occupiers.  What we should have done is invested our time and money in training up the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police.  Some folks are finally catching on.  Read more in "Teaching Afghans more important than combat: army trainer", The Montreal Gazette, November 14, 2010.

Canadian Trainers to be sent to Afghanistan

Up to 1,000 Canadian trainers and support staff could be sent to Afghanistan.  Read more in "Canadian trainers could be spread across Afghanistan", National Post, November 12, 2010.

Foreign Trainers and $1 Billion a Month to Build Afghan Army

The US is betting that recent operations with its troop surge will have put a dent into the Taliban's fighting force and caused it to be less effective.  Over the long-term the strategy is to train the Afghan army.  Read more on this topic in "U.S. bets foreign trainers, $1-billion a month can build powerful Afghan army", The Globe and Mail, November 16, 2010.

Afghan's "West Point"

"The largest-ever freshman class at the National Military Academy of Afghanistan is learning to shine boots, read a map and balance a full load of college courses as the Afghan National Army desperately tries to boost its officer corps.  Inside a Soviet-era air academy near the Kabul Airport where unexploded ordnance and rusting Soviet aircraft parts sat in bombed out buildings, the Afghan National Army has built its own version of West Point. Five years after the first 120 cadets enrolled in the National Military Academy of Afghanistan, 296 new Afghan officers have graduated."

Read the rest of the article in "Largest class enters Afghan military academy", Army Times, October 19, 2010.