Afghan War Blog

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

AAN - Biographies of Cabinet Appointees

The Afghanistan Analyst Network (AAN) provides us with a detailed description of the nominees for the Afghan cabinet and their biographies. Read "New Faces vs. Old Structures: Afghanistan's new cabinet", January 12, 2015.

SIGAR - Problems with ANP Pay

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has released a report criticizing the oversight on the pay and personnel processes of the Afghan National Police (ANP). One of the targets of the report is the administration of the Law and Order Trust Fund for Afghanistan (LOTFA) administered by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Missy Ryan of The Washington Post writes about the report in a January 12, 2015 news report. Some of the problems highlighted include:

- There is little assurance that the funds are going to active police personnel (ghost policemen) or that the amounts are correct (skimming off the top of each policeman's pay).
- Electronic human resources systems still not successfully implemented.
- Twice as many ANP ID cards as there are policemen.
- Inflated police rosters, inflated salaries.
- UNDPs independent monitoring inflates figures of verified ANP personnel.
- Limited visibility over ANP data collection processes.
- Great risk of funds being diverted for corrupt purposes.

You can read the actual report at the link below.

SIGAR 15-26 Audit Report, Afghan National Police: More than $300 Million in Annual, U.S.-funded Salary Payments is Based on Partially Verified or Reconciled Data, January 2015.
http://www.sigar.mil/pdf/audits/SIGAR-15-26-AR.pdf

Islamic State to Conduct Opns in Afghanistan

It appears that the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has declared it will step up operations in Afghanistan. While it may be mostly bluster the declaration provided in a 16-minute video released over the weekend will be sure to attract the attention of the Resolute Support headquarters and the Afghan government. Read more in "Islamic State Adds to Terror in Afghanistan", The Wall Street Journal, January 12, 2015. In a related story some Afghan officials (a provincial governor and ANA general) say that ISIS is recruiting in the 215th ANA Corps area of Nimroz and Helmand province. Read "Afghan Officials Say Islamic State group operating in south", Stars and Stripes, January 12, 2015.

Advisor Selection and HRC

"The decisive point of any SFA mission may very well be the selection, training, and education of personnel in preparation for deployment."

SFA Handbook, JCISFA, June 2012

The United States military has had extensive experience in performing advising duties over the past decade in Iraq, Afghanistan, and in other parts of the world. Unfortunately, the United States Military has had poor results in selecting advisors to important advisory positions. This is true of all services but especially the U.S. Army. Quite simply - the personnel management system of the U.S. Army has operated in a peacetime mode while the nation was at war for over 13 years. The personnel management system is not flexible and it is not adaptable. The fault lies at Human Resources Command, FORSCOM, and the units selected to provide advisors. A recent article in Military Review entitled "Misunderstanding the Officer Personnel Management System", January 2015 defends the current system in place. However, there are many observers familiar with the SFA mission in Afghanistan that believe FORSCOM and Human Resources Command have failed in providing the right advisors for the Security Force Assistance mission in Afghanistan. This writer has personally embedded with over 120 Security Force Assistance Advisor Teams (SFAATs) in Afghanistan over the past three years. The number one problem with the SFA mission is poor advisor selection and pre-deployment training. Changes need to be made.

DCGS-A in the Spotlight . . . Again

The Army's Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) continues to attract the attention of members of Congress. DCGS has a long history of inoperability, dissatisfaction among intelligence analysts who had to use it during their Afghan deployments, and expensive cost overruns. So . . . the Air Force has the J-35 and the Army has DCGS. Read a letter of discontent by Representative Duncan Hunter addressed to the Secretary of the Army about DCGS.

British Afghan Troop Med Records Lost

A UK newspaper is reporting that the medical records of up to 1,300 soldiers were lost after two laptops were sent to Afghanistan. Read more in "British Afghanistan troops' medical records lost", The Telegraph, January 12, 2015.

Daily News Snippets (Jan 13, 2015)

The Pakistani school where the Taliban massacred over 100 students has reopened. Read more in "Pakistani School Reopens After Taliban Massacre", Gandhara Blog - Radio Free Europe, January 12, 2015.

The coach of the Afghanistan national soccer team has been stabbed and injured by unknown attackers in Kabul. Some news reports on Twitter say he is enroute to India for advanced medical treatment. (Gandara Blog - Radio Free Europe, Jan 11, 2015).

For all you underwater Combat Divers out there. The Center for a New American Security has published a report entitled "Between Iron Man and Aqua Man: Exosuit Opportunities in Maritime Operations", CNAS Report, January 12, 2015.
www.cnas.org/iron-man-and-aqua-man

An Afghan policeman in southern Helmand province opened fire on senior government officials late on Monday afternoon (Jan 12, 2015). The incident took place in the office of the district governor of Nawzad district. Preliminary reports indicate that the DCoP and DGov were killed. An ANA officer and the district intelligence police officer were wounded. (Khaama Press, Jan 12, 2015).

Shafiq Hamdam writes in an article that Afghanistan's best asset is its youthful optimism. (Atlantic-Community.org, January 6, 2015).

Uniform Name Confusion. It seems the Army's top general is a bit confused about the name of the new camouflage uniform. Read more in "Army Chief Adds to Confusion over New Camouflage Pattern", Kit Up at Military.com, January 7, 2015.

Afghan refugees in Turkey find themselves in a strange world without resources. One Afghan migrant is helping out. Read "In Turkey, Afghan migrant gives new arrivals a reality check", LA Times, January 11, 2015.

It seems that the relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan are improving. Read more in "Pakistan intelligence chief meets Afghan leader as relations thaw", Yahoo! News, January 12, 2015.

Azerbaijani Armed Forces are sending a contingent of troops (39 pax) to serve under the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. Read more in "Azerbaijan sends peacekeeping force to Afghanistan", Azer Tac, January 11, 2015.

News reports say that Central Commands' social media accounts were taken over by ISIS just as President Obama was delivering a speech on cyber-security. Read "The Hacking of Central Command", The Atlantic, January 12, 2015.

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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.

Drug Abuse in Afghanistan

A news article provides background information on the huge drug addiction problem in Afghanistan. High unemployment, drugs that are easily available, and other factors contribute to the high rate of addiction. Read more in "Drug abuse proliferates, ravages Afghanistan", Trib Live, January 10, 2015.

Georgia Military Chief Has Meetings in Afghanistan

Georgia's top military official has paid an official visit to Afghanistan to meet with Georgian troops and also have discussions about Georgia's future military participation in the Resolute Support mission. Read more in "Georgia's military chief holds top meetings in Afghanistan", Agenda.ge, January 10, 2015.

Afghanistan to Continue Anti-Corruption Efforts

President Ghani has made much of his campaign promise to root out corruption. Of course, all Afghan politicians make the same proclamations, but some believe that Ghani actually means it and his verbal assertions are backed up with his recent actions. Read more in "Afghanistan shows will to root out corruption", Central Asia Online, January 9, 2015.

U.S. Airman helps Afghan Interpreter in U.S.

Afghan interpreters are a key part of the Coalition's success in Afghanistan. It is difficult to conduct combat operations, civil affairs projects, training or advising because of the language barrier. However, because of a few thousand brave Afghan interpreters this task became easier. It addition to the interpretation, Afghan interpreters functioned as cultural advisors and were an important part of the Force Protection plan for Coalition members. Now that the war for the U.S. and Coalition is winding down many of the interpreters employed for years by the U.S. military are in search of employment. In addition, some are at risk of retribution by the Taliban. Some Afghan interpreters have been fortunate enough to receive a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) from the U.S. State Department. A few of these interpreters have also benefited from the assistance of an American sponsor. Read the story of one interpreter and his family who are being helped out by a U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant in "Academy Airman helps Afghan interpreter start new life in US", U.S. Air Force, January 10, 2015.

MEB Afghanistan Deactivates

A deactivation ceremony for Marine Expeditionary Brigade - Afghanistan (MEB-A) was held at Camp Pendleton, California on January 9, 2015. The MEB-A officially took authority of Regional Command Southwest from II MEF (Forward) on February 5, 2014 and assumed the responsibility to lead coalition operations in Helmand and Nimroz provinces. The coalition departed RC Southwest in early fall of 2014. Read more in "MEB-Afghanistan deactivates, cases colors", RS News, January 9, 2015.

Afghan Retrograde - Hazardous Waste Material

The retrograde operation in Afghanistan is, for the most part, complete. By the end of 2014 the Coalition force was down to approximately 13,000 personnel and very few bases. Most of the attention on the retrograde of ISAF over the past two years has been on the movement of MRAPs, equipment, and personnel out of Afghanistan; the closing of bases; and ability of the Afghan National Security Forces to take on the Taliban without significant assistance from ISAF. There is one aspect of the retrograde process that, while perhaps not as newsworthy as the previously mentioned topics, is equally important. Over the past 13 years there has been an accumulation of hazardous waste material building up on the many small outposts and large forwarding operation bases. As each base closes provisions have to be made for the responsible disposition of the hazardous waste material. The European Commission and the United States has some pertinent directives and regulations that have to be followed and one firm - EcoLog International - is assisting in this task. Read more in "Cleaning NATO's EcoWaste in Afghanistan", by K. Aisha Abdelhamid posted on The Inspired Economist on January 7, 2015.

Proxy Wars in Afghanistan

Tamim Asey, a fellow at the Asia Society and a Fulbright scholar at Columbia University has penned an article about the history of proxy wars in Afghanistan and the fear that with the withdrawal of ISAF Afghanistan may once again see itself being the centerpiece of "The Great Game". Read more in "A Game as Old as Empire: Return of Proxy Wars in Afghanistan - Analysis", Eurasia Review, January 10, 2015.

Daily News Snippets (Jan 12, 2015)

Andrew Drwiega writes that the rise of ISIL in Syria and Afghanistan may force the Obama administration to scrap plans for a complete withdrawal of U.S. forces at the end of 2016. Read more in "Has ISIL Rise Triggered Rethink in Afghan Strategy?", Aviation Today, January 9, 2015.

The Afghan telecommunications industry has seen tremendous growth over the past decade. This growth continues - read about some advances that the Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC) has planned for Kabul in "Pioneering 3.75G+ Mobile Broadband Services Launched in Afghanistan", Khaama Press, January 10, 2015.

General Dempsey, the Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, has come out in favor of closing Guantanamo Bay prison. Read more in "Dempsey: Gitmo a 'psychological scar on our national values'", The Hill Blog, January 11, 2015.

And some more on General Dempsey. According to one news report the general is distancing himself from the Obama promise on Afghanistan. Obama made some bold statements on Afghanistan - saying that the country would never again be a base from which terrorists could launch attacks against the United States. Read more in a news report by The Washington Times (Jan 11, 2015).

The Herat marble industry was once held up as a sign of economic promise for Afghanistan. Marble stone can be found in abundance in the Herat region and several marble manufacturing firms began to refine the marble for export to foreign nations. Unfortunately, it seems that Iranian marble manufacturers are paying a higher price for the raw marble. Read more in "40 Marble Factories Stop Operations in Herat", Tolo News, January 11, 2015.

An interesting article by Franz-Stefan Gady about how other nations view the United States military. It isn't exactly the same as how the American serviceman thinks he is thought of! Read more in "International Perceptions of the U.S. Military, Revisited", The Diplomat, January 7, 2015.

The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) assisted in providing over 200,000 doses of influenza immunizations for the Afghan National Army. Read more in "Fighting the Flu", DLA, January 2015.

The Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) discusses the possibility that the Ghani administration is willing to offer the Taleban some positions in the new Afghan cabinet. Read "Taleban for the Ghani Cabinet? A look at a BBC report", AAN, January 11, 2015.

A news article discussing President Ghani's scheduled trip to the United States. Read more in "Afghan president to visit U.S. as Taliban tension flares", The Washington Times, January 8, 2015.

The United States Department of Defense Office of Inspector General has issued a report entitled "Military Construction in a Contingency Environment: Summary of Weaknesses Identified in Reports Issued from January 1, 2008 through March 31, 2014." Available here.

Members of the North Carolina Army National Guard's 1450th Transportation Company are headed to Afghanistan. Read more in a news release by DVIDS (January 10, 2015).