Level II Advising Explained - 203rd Corps

With the drawdown of Coalition forces and closure of a significant number of small and large bases the reach of  U.S. and other troop contributing nations has diminished. Two of the six ANA corps and corresponding police units no longer have advisors on a permanent, persistent (daily face-to-face contact). Instead, advisors travel on a periodic basis to the 'uncovered corps' (203rd and 215th) to check in with the ANA leadership and staff. This is called "Level II Advising". Train, Advise, Assist Command - East is responsible for two corps - the 201st and 203rd. While TAAC-East gets to see the 201st everyday (as it is co-located with the 201st at FOB Gamberi) it has to travel to visit the 203rd,  Afghan Border Police, Afghan National Police, and the Operational Coordination Center (OCC).

In October, with the closure of the U.S. FOB Lightning in Gardez, the advising effort in southeastern Afghanistan transitioned to "Level II Advising". This type of advising is conducted by email, phone calls, and occasional visits. The infrequent advising trips, called Expeditionary Advisory Packages (EAPs), are planned and coordinated with Afghan counterparts. The EAPs are conducted just a couple of times a month.

Soon, the 203rd Corps - because it is doing so well in defeating the Taliban in contested districts like Azra, Nerkh, Chak, Mohammad Agha, and others - will progress to "Level III" advising. Level III advising for the 203rd Corps will begin in January 2015 and will be conducted by an "Advise and Assist Cell" or ACC based in Kabul. As other Afghan army corps and regional security forces continue to progress in 2015, the AAC will assume Level III advisory responsibility from each of the five TAACs currently partnered with Afghan security forces. By 2016, the AAC will conduct advising of all Afghan security forces from Kabul.

Information for this post taken from "Army, USMC generals talk Afghanistan transition on advisory trip", ISAF News, December 20, 2014.

TA3E - Train, Advise, Assist, Accompany, and Enable

Members of the TAAC-West Police Advisor Team (PAT) train female
police in Herat province. (photo by RS HQs, 10 July 2017).

Reporting on the 'Train, Advise, and Assist' Mission. The renewed emphasis and modest increase in the advisory effort with the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) will not win the war; however, it is an important component of the U.S. and NATO strategy for Afghanistan. For that reason, the Afghan War Blog will continue to report on Security Force Assistance efforts by NATO and other Coalition / Partner nations.

Seminar on SFA. The primary mission of NATO's Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan is Security Force Assistance (SFA). Norway is hosting a seminar on the topic in March 2018.
www.prio.org/Events/Event/?x=8619

Expeditionary Advising. Afghanistan is not Iraq; but advising is advising. 2nd Bn 101st Airborne Division (Task Force Strike) had a mission to advise the Iraq Security Forces (ISF) during the fight for Mosul. TF Strike had to rethink the way they conducted advise and assist operations. The brigade shifted from advising in static locations to "expeditionary advising". This model allowed advisors to have a persistent presence forward with their ISF counterparts. Eventually "expeditionary advising" gave way to "Advise, Assist, Accompany, and Enable" (A3E). An excellent article entitled "Expeditionary Advising: Enabling Iraqi Operations from the Gates of Baghdad through Eastern Mosul", Small Wars Journal, February 22, 2018.

NSOCC-A Reports Growth of Police NMUs. The NATO Special Operations Component Command - Afghanistan says that the General Command of Police Special Units (GCPSU) will grow from three to six National Mission Units (NMUs).  (DVIDS, Feb 22, 2018).

IMET Programs. Every year U.S. International Military Education and Training (IMET) programs are used to train approximately 6,000 - 7,000 foreign officers from roughly 120 friendly and llied nations in US military schools alongside their US counterparts. Afghan officers of the MoD and MoI are included in these training programs. Learn more in "Normative Persuasion and the Impact of IMET Programs on U.S. National Security Goals", Georgetown Security Studies Review, February 22, 2018.

News & Info about the 1st SFAB

1st SFAB Arrives in Afghanistan. The new Army unit created to conduct the advise and assist mission on a permanent basis is now starting its first deployment in Afghanistan. The 1st SFAB leadership and advanced elements are now in Afghanistan. Soon around 36 advisor teams will spread out around the country to advise and assist the ANDSF at the brigade and kandak level. Read "First Troops Among Front-Line Advisor Brigade Arrive in Afghanistan", Military.com, February 22, 2018.

References

Read more about the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade - SFAB.

Read recent news reports about the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade - SFAB.

Read about the Army's newly established Military Advisor Training Academy (MATA).

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Advising in Afghanistan

Ian Bertram, of the U.S. Air Force and a Mi-17 air advisor in Afghanistan in 2012, suggests that advisors in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere would benefit from reading a series of books published long ago. He contends that the introduction of western values and methods are not always as useful as the use of traditional values and methods found in the host nation. Read "Ancient Backbone: Using Ancient Texts to Train Modern Allies", Small Wars Journal, July 15, 2015.

Lessons for Advisors . . . from Vietnam. Peter Murphy has penned an article entitled "Why Military Advising Was So Successful in Vietnam . . . ", Small Wars Journal, June 28, 2015.

Paper on Advising. Professor Raymond A. Millen of the Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI), Carlisle Barracks, PA, has penned an informative paper about ministerial level advising. Millen served three tours in Afghanistan; his last as an advisor at the strategic plans level at the Ministry of Defense. His paper, 76 pages long, was published June 3, 2015 by the United States Army War College Press.
Professionalizing Ministerial Advising
www.pksoi.org/index.cfm?disp=cdrview.cfm&cdrid=1334

Conference - Future of USG Advising Missions

Conference - "The Future of USG Advising Missions"

by United States Institute of Peace

Washington, D.C. January 15, 2015

The United States Institute of Peace (USIP) will host a conference on the future of U.S. government advising missions. This is a policy-level discussion about mission mandates for long-term, locally-owned solutions on advising. Learn more about this conference at the link below:

www.usip.org/events/the-future-of-usg-advising-missions

An Insider Attack: FOB Connolly (Feb 2012)

One of the principal threats to a U.S. military advisor providing training, advise, and assistance to a foreign military force comes from that force itself. An 'insider attack' is when a member of the foreign force being advised turns his weapon on a U.S. advisor. Sometimes called 'green on blue' - these insider attacks cause great harm to the advising effort.

Sunset view of TOC at FOB Connolly, Afghanistan
(photo by SSG Christopher Allison, 17 July 2009)

In 2012 in Afghanistan there were a large number of insider attacks conducted by Afghan police or army members against U.S. and NATO forces. These attacks resulted in over 60 deaths that year - accounting for 15% of Coalition deaths. In the late summer and early fall of 2012 NATO and U.S. forces in the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) significantly curtailed operations for several weeks to reduce tensions and decrease the number of deaths from these 'green on blue' incidents. 'Partnered' and 'advising' missions were put on hold. When missions did resume it was at a reduced pace with careful consideration given to the insider threat and mitigating measures that provided greater safety to advisors; but, in many cases, reduced the effectiveness of the advising effort.

Throughout the many years of the U.S. involvement in the Afghan conflict one can find cases of insider attacks but 2012 was a significant year. While the incidents of green on blue attacks peaked in the late part of 2012 the early part of the year saw a number of attacks as well.

One incident that illustrates how an insider attack can take place happened on February 23, 2012 on Forward Operating Base (FOB) Connolly in western Nangarhar province, Afghanistan. FOB Connolly was a small U.S. outpost located 1 1/2 hours drive southwest from Jalalabad. This was a joint base - with an Afghan kandak (battalion of about 400 men) and an American company-sized unit (Comanche Troop, 3rd Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment) with attachments - for a total of approximately 120 U.S. personnel. The attached units included MPs, EOD specialists, civilian contractors, a HUMINT element, and others. In addition, a 12-man Security Force Assistance Advisor Team (SFAAT) from the 101st Airborne Division was present on the small base. The Cav company was 'partnered' with the ANA kandak while the SFAAT was 'advising' the ANA kandak.

A few days earlier the Koran burning on Bagram Air Field took place that caused widespread discontent and demonstrations across Afghanistan. FOB Connolly was not spared the Afghan reaction to the burning. The small FOB saw crowds in the hundreds gathering outside its gates destroying structures and burning vehicles beyond the protective walls of the compound. It was during one of these demonstrations that two U.S. Soldiers from a military police platoon died in a attack by an Afghan National Army (ANA) soldier from within the FOB. Learn more about this incident in the online article and podcast below:

Memorial for two victims of insider attack FOB Connolly

Listen to a Podcast about the Green on Blue Attack at FOB Connolly:

The military police platoon leader, CPT Jannelle Allong-Kiakabana, is interviewed about the attack by The Spear - a podcast on military topics presented by the Modern War Institute at West Point. Listen to her account of the incident and the aftermath in Podcast: The Spear - Green on Blue, November 2, 2017.

https://mwi.usma.edu/podcast-spear-green-blue/

Read more about the Green on Blue Attack at FOB Connolly:

CPT Seth Hildebrand, "Insider Attacks: Repairing a Damaged Relationship", Infantry Online, Jan-Mar 2014. The XO of Comanche Troop describes the attack and the aftermath.

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Paper - Lessons Learned on Advising

Lt. Col. Remi Hajjar of the U.S. Army has published an article entitled "What Lessons Did We Learn (or Re-Learn) about Military Advising After 9/11?", Military Review, November-December 2014, pages 63-75. Hajjar is an academy professor at the U.S. Military Academy (West Point). His paper takes a look at the history of the U.S. military advising mission, recounts relevant lessons from the Korean and Vietnam Wars to the present, provides several major advisory lessons learned or re-learned since 9/11, lists conditions that characterize the U.S. military advising mission, defining military advisory success, and he provides a conclusion and recommendations for future advisory missions.

http://www.afghanwarnews.info/documents/LL-MilAdvisingMilRev20141231.pdf

Police Advisors Pledge Support to MoI / ANP

An agreement was recently signed that coordinated the advisory efforts of several different international organizations that are training, advising, and assisting (TAA) the Afghan National Police (ANP) and the Ministry of Interior (MoI). Representatives from the European Union Police (EUPOL) Mission Afghanistan, the German Police Project Team (GPPT), and ISAF/RS signed a "Memorandum of Cooperation" on Monday, December 29th, 2014. The memorandum improves coordination and cooperation and transitions the TAA effort from a tactical focus to a more strategic level at the Ministry of Interior. The head of the International Police Coordination Board (IPCB) was also in attendance. It would seem that the 'memorandum' addresses what some might call an uncoordinated and disjointed police training effort in the past. So, the good news - the effort is now jointly coordinated. Hopefully it being coordinated by someone with some police experience and not an infantry or armor officer who read a book on police advising and who is on his first Afghan tour. And, the bad news - the memorandum seems to move the advising and training effort off the tactical level and up to the strategic level. So we are adopting a 'top down' approach to police training and advising - when the need is at all levels. Read more on this topic in "International police reps pledge support to Afghan National Police, Ministry of Interior", ISAF News, December 29, 2014.

U.S. Military to Switch from Combat to Advisory Role in Mid-2013 in Afghanistan

The Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, stated on Wednesday (February 1, 2012) that the U.S. forces will move from a combat role to an "advise and assist" role by mid-2013.  The ISAF nations have all agreed to a timed withdrawal by 2014 - although France may pull out one year early. Read more in "Panetta Says U.S. to End Afghan Combat Role as Soon as 2013", The New York Times, February 1, 2012.  Currently there are about U.S. 90,000 troops in Afghanistan with 22,000 scheduled to return to the United States in the Fall of 2012.

A big question is if the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) will be able to bear the brunt of the fighting.  So announcing mid-2013 as a fixed-time for this move from combat to advisory role is risky (see Fred and Kimberly Kagan's thoughts on this here).  Big advances have been made in the south of Afghanistan although the job is not finished there.  The north and west is under control as well - for right now. But lots of fighting remains to be done in the east and the southeast of Afghanistan.  It is questionable if the ANSF can do the hard work in these provinces alone over the next two years.

The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) number about 320,000 as of February 2012 and will grow to 352,000 by the end of 2012.  It is unclear who will pay the bill to continue to support an Army of that size. The ANSF may have to downsize.  Downsizing the Afghan army has a couple of drawbacks - there are less security forces to keep the insurgency in check and you now have to "demobilize" an individual who has been trained to fight and now does not have a job or source of income.  However, we have to move towards transition.  This goes against the grain of many of our brigade commanders who want to do the job themselves rather than have the Afghans take the lead. See "Putting the Afghans in charge", by Roger Carstens, The AFPAK Channel - Foreign Policy, February 2, 2102 for more on how senior (O-6 level) commanders need to become the supporting unit instead of the supported unit.

The Afghan Local Police may be an option for downsizing the Afghan army.  Perhaps a plan could be devised to discharge Afghan soldiers from the Army but sign them up for the newly-formed Afghan Local Police or ALP. Prior to his discharge the soldier is enlisted into the ALP by the Ministry of Interior (MOI).  He undergoes police training (currently ALP members receive 3 weeks training) and then returns to his local village or community. The pay of an ALP member is significantly less and the logistical support required (food, housing, fuel, transportation, etc.) for the ALP member is very little - he lives at home and feeds himself.  His equipment consists of a uniform, AK-47, ammo pouches, radio, and some other inexpensive items.  Plus the ALP gets a trained and combat experienced infantryman who has been vetted with the national government.

If the U.S. combat forces are going to switch to an advisory role then now would be the time to train up the next few rotations on how to be advisors.  A certain amount of these advisors that would deploy in 2013 and 2014 should be allocated to an advisory role for the Afghan Local Police (ALP).  Currently a large proportion of the Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan are advising and training the Afghan Local Police under the Village Stability Operations (VSO) initiative.  Unfortunately there are only so many SOF teams and they are currently maxed out.  For the ALP to grow - especially if demobilized Afghan soldiers from a down-sized ANSF are integrated into it - more advisors will be needed. Advising a local police unit in remote and austere locations at the village level is very different than advising company or battalion sized units located on large compounds.

So what is a possible solution?  As we move towards the end of 2014 the Afghan security forces of 350,000 (which we can't afford) should enlist a significant amount of their force (100,000?) into the Afghan Local Police.  A portion of the U.S. units scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan in 2013 and 2014 should start training now to be advisors to the Afghan Local Police here in the states (learn language, culture, police functions, etc); and the future ALP advisors training should have oversight from SOF teams that have conducted this ALP advisory and training mission on their rotations over the past few years.

Train, Advise, Assist, Accompany, and Enable (TA3E)

HIMARS firing in Afghanistan in support of ground troops.
(Photo by U.S. Navy Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Sean Furey)

Marines Providing "Assist" to 215th ANA Corps with HIMARS. The Marines of Task Force Southwest are providing fire support to the Afghan National Army in Helmand province. Of course, the advanced rocket system also provides a degree of security to the Marine advisor teams working across Helmand province at the tactical (kandak) level. The M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System has a range of about 300 kilometers - depending on the type of munition being fired. Read more in "Marines bring HIMARS to Helmand to beef up security", Military Times, November 12, 2017.

1st SFAB 92Y Likes Her Job. The 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade will soon deploy to Afghanistan. Like many units, the SFAB needs a variety of support MOSs to function. Read on how one Unit Supply NCO likes her new job with the 1st SFAB in "Combat Service Support Soldiers take pride in building the 1st SFAB", DVIDS, November 9, 2017.

ATP 3-96.1 SFAB. The army is scheduled to publish Army Techniques Publication (ATP) 3-96.1 in January 2018. It provides doctrinal guidance and direction on how the Security Force Assistance Brigades plan, prepare, and executes operations globally. Could be useful to the 1st SFAB due to deploy to Afghanistan in early 2018.

DoD IG Report on Child Abuse by ANDSF. The U.S. Department of Defense Inspector General's office issued a report on November 14th highlighting the history of U.S. military reporting cases of child abuse by members of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.

SFABs and Governance Advising. Do they have enough CA expertise? Three U.S. Army Civil Affairs officers provide some advice for the 1st SFAB on the art of governance advising. Read "A Governance Advising Framework for the Security Force Assistance Brigade", Small Wars Journal, November 18, 2017.

U.S. Special Forces and Training up the ANASF. Periodically throughout the year a graduation ceremony is held for a group of Afghan Commandos who have successfully completed the ANA Special Forces Qualification Course (SFQC). To even apply to the ANASF an Afghan soldier must have served some time in the Afghan Commandos. Read more in "I Serve Afghanistan!: Afghan Soldiers Graduate to the Elite Ranks of Special Forces", Task and Purpose, November 12, 2017.

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"Expeditionary Advising" and 215th Corps

The Blue Areas are where TAACs are Located

Expeditionary Advising the 215th ANA Corps - Not so Much! A couple of years ago the United States rapidly drew down the force levels in Afghanistan. Keeping below a troop level of 9,800 required the closure of a large number of bases and a restructuring of the mission. It was decided to keep a small counterterrorism force, some enablers & support units (drones, intelligence, logistics, air support, etc.), and to maintain an advisory capacity at the ministry, institutional, and corps levels. However, not all the Afghan National Army corps were covered by full-time, permanent advisors co-located at or near the corps headquarters. The 203rd and 215th Corps were advised by an expeditionary package - called "Advise and Assist Cells" that operated out of Kabul. While this may have been effective for the 203rd Corps responsible for seven provinces east and south of Kabul it was probably less effective for the 215th Corps in southwest Afghanistan (Helmand and Nimroz provinces). History will probably judge that this attempt at "Level 2" or expeditionary advising was not as effective as hoped; at least not for the ANA and ANP in Helmand province. Recent news reports now indicate that a large contingent of advisors are to be deployed in Helmand province to assist the 215th Corps. Read more in "U.S. troop reinforcements head for embattled southern Afghan province", Reuters, February 9, 2016.

SFA Planners Guide. For those heading out on an advisory mission there are a wealth of documents to read. One of the better ones for learning Security Force Assistance (SFA) is the Security Force Assistance Planners Guide by the Joint Center for International Security Assistance (JCISFA) at Fort Leavenworth which was just updated in January 2016.
www.afghanwarnews.info/documents/JCISFA-SFA-Planners-Guide15Jan2016-CDR-1543.pdf

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"Expeditionary Advise and Assist"

The United States plans to keep the troop levels in 2016 the same as 2015 - meaning about 9,800 troops. Many of these military personnel will be conducting the "Train, Advise, and Assist" mission (a part of Security Force Assistance) - which is best done on a full-time and daily basis. It appears that the U.S. is going to move to "expeditionary advise and assist teams" in 2016. This is currently what is in effect for two of the six Afghan Army Corps - the 203rd in Gardez (eastern Afghanistan) and 2015th in Helmand province (southwest Afghanistan). The other four ANA corps have full-time advisors co-located or nearby the corps hqs. Of course the "expeditionary advising" (called Level 2 or Level 3 advising) is no way as effective as daily and persistent advisor presence (called Level 1 advising). Read more in a news report by Military Times, January 3, 2016.

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ATP 3-07.10 Advising Foreign Security Forces (Nov 14)

The Army has updated ATP 3-07.10, Advising Multi-Service Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for Advising Foreign Security Forces, November 1, 2014. It is a PDF file and available at the below link:

http://armypubs.army.mil/doctrine/ATP_1.html

Advising the AAF

The Resolute Support Mission is two-fold; conducting counterterrorism operations and train, advise, and assist the Afghan National Defense Security Forces (ANDSF). An important part of the ANDSF is the Afghan Air Force (AAF). To do the Train, Advise, and Assist (TAA) mission with the AAF the United States (and its coalition partner nations) has air advisors working with the AAF as part of the Train, Advise, and Assist Command - Air or TAAC-Air. A recent paper provides us with a break down of the essential components of a successful air advising posture, applies it to the mission in Afghanistan, and concludes with a summary of key points and suggest areas for improvement. The authors of the paper are Lt Col Aaron Tucker of the USAF and Colonel Aimal Pacha Sayedi of the Afghan Air Force. Read Advising the Afghan Air Force, National Defense University Press, January 1, 2016.

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SFAAT Advising in Parwan Province, Afghanistan

A Security Force Advise and Assist Team or SFAAT is now advising provincial officials and members of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in Charikar - the capital city of Parwan province, Afghanistan. The SFAAT is from 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. In addition, to Parwan, the SFAT also advises in Kapisa province just to the east. Learn more about the SFAAT mission in "2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment adds new location to advising mission", DVIDS, December 30, 2013.

Combat Advising the ANA Commando Kandaks

A Special Forces Warrant Officer has posted a paper on the Small Wars Journal that he wrote about his tour of duty combat advising the 205th ANA Commando Kandak.  He provides his thoughts on some of the obstacles his detachment faced and how they overcame them.  One of the detachments first tasks was to define their role to the many other military organizations that were present to "help" train the Commando Kandak.

Read "Combat Advising the ANA 205th Commandos", posted on the Small Wars Journal, December 27, 2010.

Afghan War Blog Snippets

Video - Mercy Corps. Learn how Mercy Corps provides economic opportunity for Afghan women in this short 5-min long video. www.youtube.com/watch?v=35BGPm1Flpk

Missing Afghan Food. One writer tells us of his fondness for Afghan food that he experienced as an Embedded Training Team (ETT) member during a deployment to Afghanistan. Read "Afghan Food Was One Great Thing about Deployment",  Task & Purpose, September 26, 2016.

AGO and HOOAC in War of Words. There is disagreement between the Afghan Attorney General's Office (AGO) and the High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption (HOOAC) about how much the AGO is doing in pursuing corruption within the Afghan government. Read more in a news report by Tolo News, September 26, 2016.

Gas-fired Power Plant to be Built. The Ghazanfar Group has been awarded a contract by the Afghan government to build and operate a 50 MW plant in Mazar-e-Sharif. The plant will increase the country's power generation capacity by 30%. Read more in "Gas-fired power plant a first for Afghanistan", Power Engineering International, September 2016.

2nd LT Artillery Officer Advising Afghan Police. A female U.S. Army 2nd LT on her first Afghan deployment is advising the Afghan police in Train, Advise, and Assist Command - East. Read more in "Atypical Afghan Advising", Army.mil, August 26, 2016.

Coalition Patrol Delivers Med Supplies. A combination of Czech Republic, Polish, Afghan, U.S., and other international members delivered medical supplies to the Charikar Hospital in Parwan province. Read more in a news report by Army.mil, September 21, 2016.

Kajaki Dam and COIN. Jeff Goodson, a former USAID employee with extensive experience in Afghanistan, writes about the Kajaki Dam and its role in counterinsurgency. Read "An Afghanistan Perspective: The Kajaki Dam - Counterinsurgency (Part II)", Real Clear Defense, September 27, 2016.

SIGAR Report on Lessons from Afghanistan. In April 19-20, 2016 the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) and the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) held a two day conference entitled "Lessons from the Coalition: International Experiences from the Afghanistan Reconstruction". Participants included senior officials and experts from the nations and organizations involved in the reconstruction of Afghanistan. A number of themes emerged from the conference. Read more in the 24-page conference report recently published by SIGAR (September 2016).
www.sigar.mil/pdf/lessonslearned/SIGAR-16-59-LL.pdf

Female Afghan Musicians. If you are a female musician and performer in Afghanistan you face some daunting challenges. Read more in "Hip-Hop and the liberation of Women in Kabul", Pacific Standard Magazine, September 27, 2016.

Afghan War Supplemental Request. Congress will be presented a request for a supplemental spending measure to fund the continued involvement of the United States in the Afghanistan conflict. The request will be presented to Congress in November 2016 by the DoD. Read more in a news report by Defense News, September 26, 2016.

Presidential Debate and the Taliban. It seems the Taliban watched the presidential debate this past Monday night (from a secret location) and were disappointed that Afghanistan did not get much attention. (NBC News, Sep 27, 2016).

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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.

Australia's Role in Afghanistan Changes to Advising

Australia's role in Afghanistan has taken many forms from advising the police to providing special operations troops for direct action missions. One of the most important missions, providing security for Uruzgan province, is now complete. The Australians have withdrawn from Uruzgan where the Afghan National is now in the lead for security. Australian troops continue to have an advisory role with the 205th Corps and in Regional Command South. In addition, the Australians continue to advise and train at the Afghan National Academy and the Afghan Special Police Unit. Read more in "Australia's Role in Afghanistan Shifts to Advisory", Defense News, February 10, 2014.

SFAAT Teaches OCC-R How to Use COP

While the nation and world is focused on events in the Ukraine, Syria, Iraq and elsewhere; in the country of Afghanistan members of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are still at work. Their principal mission in 2014 is Security Force Assistance or training, advising, and assisting the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) to become more proficient and able as the ISAF mission goes away at the end of 2014. Part of this mission is to ensure that the Operational Coordination Centers located at the regional level (usually co-located with the ANA Corps) are able to function on their own. This includes being able to track events on the battlefield. SFAAT 3 is currently advising the OCC-R South in Kandahar to plot significant acts that occur in their battlespace. While NATO and the U.S. military have sophisticated software applications that do this (C2PC, ADOCS, CPOF, etc.) the Afghans are many years behind. SFAAT 3 has put together a series of programs for the ANSF (similar to Google Maps) that has the ability to track all types of significant acts. Read more in "SFAAT 3 encourages teamwork by improving the ANSF common operating picture", DVIDS, September 19, 2014. (Photo by SSG Whitney Houston, RC South).

SFAAT Mission in Afghanistan

A large number of a new type of advisory unit are being deployed to aid in the transition of coalition combat troops out of Afghanistan. The advisory teams are called Security Force Assistance Advisory and Assistance Teams or SFAATs. The concept was developed by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) staff and approved by COMISAF (General John Allen) last fall. The first teams were notified over the winter of 2011 for an upcoming deployment in the spring of 2012.

Most of the teams are being deployed as part of a new concept called Security Force Assistance Brigades or SFABs. These SFABs are understrength brigade combat teams (BCTs) with about half of their authorized manning. The SFAATs are formed into 9, 12, or 18 man teams depending on the type of Afghan unit they are advising.  All SFAATs are assigned interpreters who assist them in the advisory effort.  In addition, those units advising Afghan Uniform Police (AUP) or Afghan Border Police (ABP) are assigned Embedded Police Mentors (EPMs). The EPMs are provided by a DynCorps contract.

For more information on SFAATs visit the link below:

http://www.afghanwarnews.info/units/sfaat.htm