Corps of Engineers in Afghanistan

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been busy in Afghanistan. Currently it is attempting to complete many ongoing projects before the end of the year and the end of the Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) mission. There should only be 66 remaining projects as we head into the Resolute Support mission in January. Read more in "Transatlantic Afghanistan District completes 21 projects in September", DVIDS, November 4, 2014.

Commentary (Ex) Senator Lieberman on Afghanistan

Joseph Lieberman, a former senator from Connecticut, and a one-time "moderate" who could cross party lines and actually help Congress do "governance", has provided us with his thoughts on Obama and Afghanistan. Joe says that Obama needs to re-consider his plan to fully withdraw U.S. advisors by 2016 (end of ) in light of the disastrous effects of pulling out advisors from Iraq in 2011. He says, that although Iraq and Afghanistan are different, there are some parallels and lessons that we can ignore (at our peril). He warns that pulling out of Afghanistan fully may unravel everything that we have accomplished thus far (much as Iraq unraveled). Good commentary by one of our more capable former U.S. Senators. Read his opinion piece in "Obama repeats his Iraq mistake in Afghanistan", The Washington Post, June 20, 2014. (I know, it is dated but still valid!).

Bagram: DoD Busiest Runway

Bagram Air Field (BAF) in eastern Afghanistan is the Department of Defense's busiest runway. There are 46 different types of aircraft that fly in and out of BAF. A mission flies on average about every two minutes. Read more in "Expeditionary Airmen operate DOD's busiest single runway", DVIDS, October 28, 2014.

Afghanistan: A Dire Outlook

There are conflicting reports on how well or poorly Afghanistan is doing. The latest DoD 1230 report says that the Afghan National Security Forces are "winning" and the future is promising. The latest report by SIGAR is far less optimistic. Read one outside assessment in "Afghanistan Going off the rails as U.S. Withdrawal Speeds Up", Foreign Policy, October 30, 2014.

Paper - "American Advisors" by Joshua Potter

If you are on your way to Afghanistan (or Iraq . . . or anywhere) to be a military advisor then a paper wrote by LTC Joshua Potter (US Army) will be very useful. American Advisors: Security Force Assistance Model in the Long War, Combat Studies Institute Press, Combined Arms Center, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas (2011) is a good education and should be a must for pre-deployment training for advisors heading overseas. You can view or download the paper at the following link:
http://usacac.army.mil/cac2/cgsc/carl/download/csipubs/AmericanAdvisors.pdf

ANSF Casualties Not Sustainable

A top United States military commander in Afghanistan says that the casualties suffered by the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are not sustainable. LTG Joseph Anderson, the commander of the ISAF Joint Command (IJC), says that since the beginning of 2013, the ANSF have suffered nearly 9,000 fatalities. In comparison, the U.S. has lost 2,246 troops in OEF since 2001. The number of troops from the ANSF going AWOL is also high. Currently the Afghan National Police (ANP) is at 89 percent strength while the Afghan National Army (ANA) is at 81 per cent strength. LTG Anderson reports that the ANSF are winning since they are able to hold their ground against the enemy. Hmmm. Most counterinsurgency experts say that if the government forces are not defeating insurgents in their base areas (support and attack zones), the insurgents are continuing to operate, have freedom to move in the rural areas, and can pick the time and place to attack the government forces then the insurgents are considered to be winning. I guess it depends on which Field Manual you read. Read more on ANSF casualties in "US commander: Afghan casualties not sustainable", Stars and Stripes, November 5, 2014.

RC East is now TAAC East

The 10th Mountain Division is closing up shop in Regional Command East and heading back to Fort Drum, New York. 10th Mountain has been in Afghanistan from the very beginning, and the very end, and . . . a few times in between. In late 2001 elements of 10th Mountain deployed to "K2" in Uzbekistan and then later to Bagram Air Field as part of the initial conventional forces to enter Afghanistan (after the SF teams and the occasional CIA agent). The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is transitioning to the Resolute Support mission; and the Regional Commands are transitioning to "Train Advise and Assist Commands" or TAACs. Thus, RC East is being renamed TAAC East. Read more in "10th Mountain Division ends operations in Afghanistan, 13 years after it arrived", Stars and Stripes, November 4, 2014.

TAAC-East Replaces RC-East

Regional Command East is no longer with us. It has been replaced by Train, Advise, and Assist Command East or TAAC East. The RC had a two-star commander; the TAAC has a one-star commander. U.S. Army BG Christopher Bentley will lead TAAC East - an organization comprised of 60 division staff officers and Soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division (Fort Stewart, GA) and 1,000 Soldiers from the 3rd Cavalry Regiment (Fort Hood, TX).

TAAC East's mission is to train, advise and assist (TAA) the Afghan National Security Forces in eastern Afghanistan. The TAAC is no longer advising at the tactical level; the organization will work to strengthen ties between the operational and strategic levels - providing the connective tissue between corps-level Afghan units to the Ministry of Defense and Ministry of Interior.

The 201st ANA Corps is located in Laghman province and advisors will be stationed at FOB Gamberi to provide advise and assistance on a daily, persistent basis. It is believed that this is called "Level I" advising. The 203rd ANA Corps is located at FOB Thunder near Gardez; however, there is no "advisor platform" from which to project an advisory effort. Perhaps TAAC East will conduct "Level II" advising -which is basically a visit once or twice a month and some phone calls. (I wonder how that will work out?).

Read more in "3ID, 3CR form TAAC-E in eastern Afghanistan", DVIDS, November 5, 2014.

Afghan Detainee Transfer to U.S. - Analysis

The U.S. will soon be shutting down the U.S. administered military detention facility at Bagram. The questions remains of what to do with the non-Afghans currently detained there. One interesting development is the transfer of one of the detainees to the United States for prosecution. Read more in "Detainee Transferred from Afghanistan to US for Trial: A Model for GTMO Closure?", Lawfare, November 4, 2014.

Iran and Pakistan Destabilize Afghanistan

The Pentagon's latest assessment on security in Afghanistan has criticized Iran and Pakistan - stating that both countries are destabilizing regional security by supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan. Read more in "Pentagon Says Policies of Iran, Pakistan Destabilize Afghan Security", Radio Free Europe, November 5, 2014.

Video - COMISAF Speaks on Afghan Future

In a short video clip COMISAF (General John Campbell) speaks about transition, Afghan security, and the need for the Taliban to come to the peace table. See Changes Underway with Afghanistan Drawdown, DoD News, October 30, 2014.

Book - "Swimming with Warlords"

The journalist Kevin Sites has wrote a book on Afghanistan entitled Swimming with Warlords: A Dozen-Year Journey Across the Afghan War. His view on the current state of affairs in Afghanistan is not a pretty one yet he says that "hope" is alive and he is optimistic about the future of Afghanistan. The book is available on Amazon.com.

"The Long Goodbye to Afghanistan"

On November 6, 2001, Defense Security Donald Rumseld said "I do not think it will take years to deal with the Taliban or the al-Qaida organization". 13 years later the United States is leaving Afghanistan and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) will come to an end. However, the U.S. will keep 9,800 troops in country to continue the Security Force Assistance mission and conduct limited counter-terrorism operations. The Defense Department says the Afghan security forces can stand on their own; however, they seem to be having some difficulty in some parts of the country (Helmand and Kunduz provinces). Read more in "The Long goodbye to Afghanistan", Chicago Tribune, October 31, 2014.

Afghan's Minerals Law

Afghanistan has a new minerals law. The question is will it improve sector governance and catalyse the massive investment needed? Read more in "The new minerals law: breaking new ground for Afghanistan?", The Guardian, October 30, 2014.

Dismal Outlook for Helmand Province

The U.S has left Camp Leatherneck and the Brits have departed Camp Bastion. According to ISAF the transfer of the bases was smooth and the Afghan National Security Forces will be able to handle the security situation within Helmand province without the assistance of the International Security Assistance Force. But . . . some news reports seem to indicate otherwise. Read more in "Continued violence in Helmand elicits disillusionment, fear as coalition departs", Stars and Stripes, October 31, 2014.

Australia Combat Pay Cut

It seems that Afghanistan is a less dangerous place and the Australian combat troops will get their combat pay cut after 2014. Read more in "Defence says Afghanistan 'less dangerous' so cuts Australian military's pay", The Sydney Morning Herald, October 31, 2014.

Kerry, China, and Afghanistan

Secretary of State John Kerry took the opportunity to provide his insight on the relationship between the United States and China and outlining different aspects of that relationship in a speech before the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. (See Remarks on U.S.-China Relations, U.S. Department of State, November 4, 2014). While the speech was quite long and covered many subjects he did touch a little bit on China and Afghanistan. His comments on that topic are below:

"It can also make a difference in countering violent extremist groups like ISIL, which seek to harm people in every corner of the globe. And it can help in bringing stability to places like Afghanistan, where today we are partnering to support political cohesiveness and prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a safe haven for terrorists. We welcome China’s role as a critical player in the Afghan region. And just last week, in fact, President Ghani, our Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Dan Feldman, and President Obama’s counselor John Podesta all traveled to Beijing to participate in a conference focused on supporting Afghan peace and reconstruction."

Slain Afghan Official Mourned

The sub-governor of Kandahar, Abdul Qadim Patyal, was assassinated while he was attending a night class on Afghan literature. He embodied the hope of many who saw a youthful public servant who was not tied to a warlord or specific "tribal family" that would help bring Afghanistan out of the 14th century and into the 21st century. Read more in "Slain Afghan official, a poet, embodied hope of youth", Los Angeles Times, November 4, 2014.

Afghan 119 Information Center

The 119 Information Center service in Afghanistan is now five years old. Afghans can dial 119 on the phone to reach an emergency call center to report a crime, seek emergency assistance, or report insurgent activity. There is a main call center located in Kabul and several regional call centers around the country (Kandahar, Mazar-e-Sharif, etc.). The call centers operate around the clock and have communication with the regional Operational Coordination Centers or OCC-Rs. The Ariana TV network and Awaz Productions are now broadcasting a program called Reaction 119 which provides information about the value of the government emergency call center service. The program, aired on the private television channel, is dedicated to demonstrating the services of the Quick Reaction Police and the 119 Information Center. Learn more in "Afghan 119 police services prevent violence", Central Asia Online, October 31, 2014.

Guest Articles, Posts, and Commentary Welcome

The Afghan War News Blog and the Afghan War News website are constantly striving to keep its blog, daily newsletter, and website factual, current, and relevant. If you have a link to a website or document you feel should be shared with the greater community then please send it to us. In addition,we are looking for individuals with some knowledge, experience, and expertise in Afghanistan on a wide range of topics to contribute articles to our blog and add content to our website. And naturally, if you see errors, outdated information, or broken links let us know.

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Last of Russian Helicopters Delivered

The last of 63 Russian Mi-17 transport helicopters have been delivered to the Afghan Air Force (AAF) in October 2014. The Russian Federal Service of Military-Technical Cooperation says it will assist with future helicopter deliveries to the Afghan military and help maintain the aircraft already in service. The U.S. funding for the purchase of the Mi-17s were widely criticized by members of Congress because of Russia's support of the Assad regime in Syria and Russia's annexation of the Crimea and support of the Ukrainian rebels. In addition, there appears to be a bit of price gouging going on as well by the Russians. The U.S. military are staunch supporters of the Mi-17 program as the Russian helicopters are best suited for the Afghan terrain and maintenance capabilities. Read more in Russia Delivers Last of U.S.-bought Helicopter to Afghan Military", DoD Buzz, November 3, 2014.

Interview with John Nagl - Author "Knife Fights"

Dr. John Nagl was recently (October 28, 2014) interviewed about his new book "Knife Fights: A Memoir of Modern War in Theory and Practice". Nagl is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army and a former president of The Center for a New American Century. The book is an education in 21st Century Warfare - both its theory and its practice. Nagl first came into the public eye with his book "Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife" - about counterinsurgency and how the United States had to understand an insurgency and be flexible in its response and able to adjust its strategy to deal with the threat. The interview, narrated by Peter Bergen (no slouch himself on warfare, insurgency and terrorism) was recorded by The Center for a New American Century, it is 1 hour and 23 minutes long and can be seen at the link below on YouTube.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6WLiErc2mw

More Aircraft for the Afghan Air Force

The United States will be providing additional aircraft to the Afghan Air Force. Read more in "Warplanes: Fixing the Afghan Air Force", Strategy Page,  October 30, 2014.

Afghan Refugees Die in Boat Disaster

24 people were killed in a boat sinking off the Turkish coast. They were part of a group of 42 Afghan refugees who paid a smuggler to transport them from Turkey to Europe. Read more in "24 killed in migrant boat disaster off northern Istanbul coast", Hurriyet Daily News (Turkey), November 4, 2014.

Afghan Withdrawal Timeline Reassessment

General John Campbell is reassessing the United States withdrawal time frame from Afghanistan. The electoral dispute and late signing of the Bilateral Security Agreement put a lot of planned programs to advise and assist the Afghans on hold. These programs were meant to prepare the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) for the full withdrawal of International Security Assistance Force (except for 12,500 personnel under the Resolute Support mission). Insurgent attacks have reached the highest levels since 2011 and the ANSF has suffered high casualties in the 2014 fighting season. The recent events in Iraq, where the U.S. withdrew completely in 2011, have raised questions on the ability of the ANSF to hold out against the Taliban after ISAF leaves. Read more in "Top US commander of Afghan war reassessing US withdrawal timeline", Stars and Stripes, November 4, 2014.

Tajikistan and Turkmenistan to Aid Afghanistan

The two Central Asian countries of Tajikistan and Turkmenistan are keen to see a secure and stable Afghanistan. The last thing these countries need is an unsecure northern Afghan border from which insurgents can cross causing internal security problems within their respective countries. To that end they are assisting with the delivery of electricity to Afghanistan at a reduced cost. Read more in "Turkmenistan, Tajikistan want to aid Afghanistan", Central Asia Online, October 28, 2014.

Rebuilding Technology Base in Afghanistan

There certainly is some progress being made in Afghanistan. The news is not just "gloom and doom". The technology and telecommunications sector of Afghanistan has seen great benefit from the years of hard work done by the international community. Great strides have been made in the education field for basic education as well as advanced education at the university level. The Technical University of Berlin has been helping with the reconstruction of academic organizations in Afghanistan since 2002. Computer centers have been established at five college locations in Afghanistan. Learn more in "Rebuilding tech in Afghanistan with open source", OpenSource.com, posted October 29, 2014.

DCGS-A Suffers Another Black Eye

The Army's Distributed Common Ground System (DCGS) program can't seem to catch a break. It is now revealed that a government official said to be ". . . the architect of a failed effort . . ." had an embellished resume. Seems he was known as "Dr. Richardson" yet never earned a Ph.D. (as seen on his resume). DCGS has been judged an expensive failure for the U.S. Army and intelligence units in Afghanistan tried to use other software applications rather than DCGS. Unfortunately, the billions of dollars need not have been wasted on DCGS as there was a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) computer application used by the Special Operations community that did the same function at a far less cost. Read more in "Official allowed others to believe he had Ph.D.", AP Big Story, October 28, 2014.

ANSF Prepared to Defend Helmand

Many observers will cast a keen eye on what happens in Helmand province now that the Brits have departed Camp Bastion and the U.S. Marines have left Camp Leatherneck. Some observers predict doom but the the commander of the 215th Afghan National Army Corps says his troops will do fine. Read more in "Afghan Forces Prepare to Fight Alone as Foreign Troops Leave", The Huffington Post, October 28, 2014.

Czech Soldiers Sign up for Resolute Support

The Parliament of the Czech Republic has approved a plan to keep its soldiers in Afghanistan for two more years. The number of Czechs will likely be about 250. Read more in "Czech soldiers to stay in Afghanistan", Yahoo! News, October 31, 2014.

Afghanistan to Remain Dependent on West

Afghanistan will not be able to fund the security forces that are needed to quell the insurgency - the international community will have to foot much of that bill. The Afghan government yearly budget is about $7.6 billion. International donors provide 65% of that amount. Read more in "Op-Ed: Afghanistan to remain western-funded client state", Digital Journal, by Ken Hanly, October 28, 2014.

Afghan Forces Winning Says IJC Cdr

The commander of the ISAF Joint Command, sometimes called IJC for short, provided an update on the Afghan War in a teleconference with Pentagon reporters. Army LTG Joseph Anderson said that the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are winning. He stated that the ANSF is ". . . the most trusted government organization in Afghanistan" and that it is ". . . a hugely capable fighting force that has been holding its ground against the enemy". The Afghan forces number about 352,000 - 156,000 in the army and 155,000 in the police.

In the transition from the ISAF mission to the Resolute Support mission there has been a steady decline in the number of Coalition forces in Afghanistan. Currently (early November 2014) there are 38,000 soldiers from 44 nations; with a planned strength of 12,500 Coalition members by the end of December 2014. The number of Coalition bases has decreased from 86 bases in January 2014 to a current number of 26 (as of early November 2014). There are no more Regional Commands. All of the RCs have transitioned to "Train Advise and Assist Commands" or TAACs. The last RC to transition was RC East (to TAAC East). The new mission, Resolute Support, is all about advising and assisting the Afghans at the corps, institutional, and ministerial levels to work systems and processes. The advisory effort is focused along Eight Essential Functions (the "8 EF's are the follow-on to the "Five Functional Pillars") which encompasses everything from planning, programming, budgeting and execution to sustainment and planning. Some of the capability gaps of the ANSF include aviation, intelligence, logistics, and medical.

Read more in "Afghan Forces Winning, ISAF Joint Command Chief Says", DoD News, November 5, 2014.

Ghani Removes "Handcuffs"

General John Campbell, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) says that President Ghani has been very cooperative with ISAF and will likely lift some of the restriction imposed upon ISAF by President Karzai. Campbell says "Since about 2009, the security forces in some instances almost had handcuffs on them because of some of the policies that Karzai had". Read more in "New Afghan President Improves Ties with U.S.-led Forces", The Wall Street Journal, November 2, 2014.

ANASF Trains for Future after U.S. Exit

The Afghan National Army Special Forces (ANASF) are hopeful that they will be ready once the United States military finally leaves. While many of the U.S. SOF units have significantly trimmed down their force structure in Afghanistan - there is still an advisor capacity in country. This commitment will continue to scale back as time goes on. But the ANASF leadership is hopeful. Read more in "Afghan National Army trains to hold off Taliban after U.S. exit", The Washington Times, October 28, 2014.

Paper - Advisor Influence across NSMs and ANSF

An extremely well-researched and detailed paper is available that presents valuable information about advisor influence upon the Afghan national security ministries (NSMs) and the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). The paper, a dissertation for a graduate student at Syracuse University with extensive military experience, ". . . is an in-depth case study of NATO advisors and their perceived influence in Afghanistan . . . " in the period of 2009-2012. The author reviews Security Sector Reform (SSR) literature, presents different theories on SSR, provides an analysis of security assistance partnering, and examines advisor influence across the Afghan security spectrum.  The paper, 370 pages long, explores a two-part question:

". . . how do foreign security actors (ministerial advisors and security force trainers, advisors, and commanders) attempt to influence their host-nation partners and what are their perceptions of these approaches on changes in local capacity, values, and security governance norms?"

The paper is entitled The Prospects of Institutional Transfer: A Within-Case Study of NATO Advisor Influence Across the Afghan Security Ministries and National Security Forces, 2009-2012, by Nicholas J. Armstrong, May 2014.
http://surface.syr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1068&context=etd

Report - "Afghanistan in Transition"

The Committee on Foreign Relations of the United States Senate has published a report entitled Afghanistan in Transition: U.S. Civilian Presence and Assistance Post-2014, dated October 27, 2014. The report is 31 pages long and consists of three sections: "Enhanced Accountability for U.S. Assistance", "A Refined U.S. Civilian Assistance Approach", and "Robust U.S. Diplomatic Posture and Civilian Presence". Topics include TMAF as a mechanism for incentivized assistance, improving Afghanistan's capacity to budget and collect revenue, enhancing women's rights, stemming corruption, sustainability of U.S. investments, lessons learned, interagency information sharing, monitoring program implementation, and the New Silk Road Initiative.

The report can be viewed and downloaded at the link below:
www.foreign.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/89860.pdf

State Department - Little Afghan War News

A few days ago Afghan War News posted a blurb about how the Department of Defense seems to be ignoring news about Afghanistan. An examination of a Daily Press Briefing by the U.S. State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki held on October 27, 2014 provides the same result. The graphic to the left is a snip of the contents of the briefing for Oct 27th. Topics covered in the briefing include Lebanon, ISIL, Canada, Ebola, Syria, Israel, Ukraine, Tunisia, China, Hong Kong, Turkey, Indonesia, Russia, Iran and Egypt. Afghanistan? No where to be found. Afghanistan: The War that the Defense Department and State Department forgot!

History of Marines in Helmand Province

The Marines have handed over Camp Leatherneck to the Afghan National Army. Only a few hundred Marines remain to do the final packing . . . and they too, will soon depart. What was once a sprawling base is a ghost town. A recently posted account of the Marines time in Helmand province can be found in "Marines leave Afghanistan after tough years", Stars and Stripes, October 27, 2014.

Afghan Social Media

In a counterinsurgency environment information operations (IO) is key. IO can sway public perception to support the government or it can generate support for the insurgents. Proper messaging (defined themes that resonate) along with the means of getting a message out (TV, print, radio, etc.) are important. With the rapid technological advances in communications social media has been taking a bigger and bigger role. This is true of Afghanistan as well. Almost three million Afghans have Internet access and almost two million use social media. Over 70% of the population has access to cell phones. Read more in "Afghan Social Media Summit 2014 becomes talk of town", Central Asia Online, October 27, 2014.

ISAF Fails at COIN

Our counter-insurgency doctrine states that for COIN forces to win the insurgents have to be defeated; for the insurgents to win, they have to survive. It is quite evident, based on the high level of insurgent activity in the 2014 fighting season, that Hekmatyar's Hizbi-Islami, the Haqqani Network, and the Taliban have survived the long 13-year long counterinsurgency effort mounted by NATO / ISAF in Afghanistan. Some observers believe that NATO is more suited for strategic level interventions and a cold war environment than a counterinsurgency environment. They believe the NATO organization (ISAF) is not structured for and does not do counterinsurgency well. Read more in "In Afghanistan the west suffered from institutional failure. Let's learn from it", by Afzal Amin, The Guardian, October 28, 2014.

Taliban Efforts Hurt by ANSF in October

According to a recent news report the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) enjoyed some success against the Taliban during the last part of October (2014). Read more in "Afghan security forces cut into Taliban efforts in October", Central Asia Online, November 3, 2014.

ISAF Reports on ANSF Now Classified

The International Security Assistance Force is now classifying one of the reports that previously were available to the public. The reports were produced to provide a status of the ANSF each month. Read more in "Classified: Military Suddenly Doesn't Want You to Know How $61B Afghan Training is Going", ABC News, October 30, 2014.

Romanian NSE Reaches End of Mission at KAF

The Romanian National Service Element at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan reached the end of their mission in October 2014. Read more in "Romanian NSE celebrates Armed Service Day and end of mission at KAF", DVIDS, October 27, 2014.

Afghan Opium War a Failure

The United States and other nations as well have spent billions of dollars attempting to stem the export of opium from Afghanistan. The end result is an increase of the drug trade over the past 13 years. Learn more in "Down the Afghan opium rathole", Chicago Sun-Times, October 28, 2014.

Video - ANA Training at KMTC

One of the largest training centers for the Afghan National Army (ANA) is at the Kabul Military Training Center (KMTC). The subjects taught by ANA instructors at KMTC range from house clearing, convoy operations, medical training and more. Watch a short video (2 mins) produced by NATO TV entitled "Afghan army learns from the battlefield", October 15, 2014.

1569th Trans Company Completes Retrograde Mission

The 1569th Transportation Company of the New York Army National Guard has returned to the United States after a 10-month long deployment to Afghanistan. The company helped coalition forces consolidate and close operating bases in Afghanistan. The Soldiers were stationed in Regional Command North at Camp Marmal just outside of Mazar-e-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. Read more in "New York Army National Guard Soldiers return to United States following Afghan deployment", DVIDS, October 27, 2014.

Afghan Deputy Gov Killed in Attack

A deputy provincial governor was killed in an attack in southern Kandahar while attending a university class. Read more in "Attacks Kill Afghan Deputy Governor, Judge", The New York Times, November 3, 2014.

Advisor Selection for Afghan SFA Mission

The Security Force Assistance (SFA) mission is a difficult one. Members of ISAF are expected to deploy to Afghanistan and train, advise, and assist their Afghan counterparts in the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police. The SFA mission began in early 2012 with the deployment of hundreds of Security Force Assistance Advisor Teams (SFAATs). Unfortunately, the most important factor that contributes to the success of an advisory mission was not considered in many cases by the United States military. That factor is the proper selection of advisor personnel. In many instances, advisors did not (and do not) have the needed attributes to be effective with their Afghan counterparts (age, experience, training, education, rank, personality, etc.).

"The decisive point of any SFA mission may very well be the selection, training, and education of personnel in preparation for deployment". SFA Handbook, Joint Center for International Security Force Assistance, June 2012.

For instance, if one traveled through Regional Command East in 2012 and met the Intelligence officers serving as advisors on SFAATs you would find that almost 50% of them were Infantry Lieutenants with less than two years in the U.S. Army. While these young men were undoubtedly intelligent, smart, physically fit, and motivated they had (maybe) six months experience as an Infantry platoon leader, no previous combat deployment, and knew very little about the importance and role of intelligence in a counterinsurgency environment. An Infantry Lieutenant, age 24, with no previous combat deployment, and no Intel training or experience was expected to establish rapport with, develop a relationship with, and train, advise and assist an Afghan Intelligence officer (Captain, Major, or Colonel) for an ANA kandak (battalion), who may already have Intelligence training and experience, who likely had ten to 30 years of combat experience, and who was in the range of 30 to 50 years old. A tough job for a young inexperienced Infantry Lieutenant. Probably the only thing the Infantry Lieutenant could offer of importance to the senior Afghan Intelligence officer were maps, printer cartridges, and fuel.

In 2013 the Intelligence advisors to the 201st and 203rd ANA Corps in Regional Command East were Captains (fortunately with an Intel MOS and both very capable, smart, and motivated). However, these young Captains were advising Afghan Corps G2 staff officers with the rank of senior Colonel or General, more than 30 years in the Afghan Army, and with over 20 years of combat experience. A difficult task for any Captain; even our best. So this is an example of the U.S. Army's best effort in personnel assignments to important advisor positions.

Contrast the experience level of the U.S. Army Intel Advisors to the 201st and 203rd ANA Corps in 2013 with the current Intelligence advisor to the 205th ANA Corps in southern Afghanistan - Australian Army Major Mich Hahn. Major Hahn works in Train Advise and Assist Command - South (formerly Regional Command South). Read more in "Finding credibility through experience: Australian Intel officer brings 30 years of intelligence experience to TAAC-South", DVIDS, October 28, 2014.

Burnout of SOF Operators

The last 13 years has seen multiple deployments for those in the U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF). However, just as things look like it would ease up (Iraq War ended in 2011 and Afghanistan is closing down in December 2014) trouble spots are erupting (Ukraine, North Africa, and Middle East). A very important factor in this ongoing, never-ending fight is "burnout" among the special operators of SOCOM. Read more in "Special Operations: SOCOM Operators Flee the House of Lies", Strategy Page, October 28, 2014.