Train, Advise, Assist Mission in Afghanistan

Italian advisors 'fly to advise' (RS HQs, 20180122)

Italian Advisors Fly to Advise. Advisors from Train, Advise, and Assist Command - West recently flew to Kushki Kuhna district, Herat province to conduct periodic training with their Afghan partners. Read more in "Italian advisors provide ANA with periodic training at home", Resolute Support, January 22, 2018.

TAAC-North's 'Train the Trainers' Course. The advisors at Train, Advise, and Assist Command - North located at Mazar-e-Sharif have developed a 4-week long course for experienced members of the ANA who will take their knowledge back to their units. Read "Training the trainers in northern Afghanistan", Resolute Support, January 27, 2018.

JFTC Advisor Training. NATO officers and NCOs are currently training to be advisors in a two-week train-up held at the Joint Forces Training Centre (JFTC) in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Over two hundred students are in attendance. They will serve as advisors while assigned to Resolute Support Mission in Kabul and the Train, Advise, and Assist Command - North in Mazar-e-Sharif. Read more in "JFTC Trains for Resolute Support Mission",  JFTC, January 2018.

Mi-17 Training at Rucker Ends. The training of Afghans to fly and maintain the Mi-17 helicopter is coming to a close at Fort Rucker, Alabama. (DVIDS, January 17, 2018).

RS FAST Program. The Functional Area Support Team (FAST) program by RS HQs is helping to recruit young, educated Afghans for civilian roles performing essential functions within the ANDSF and security ministries. Read "Putting Young Afghans on a FAST Track", RS, January 12, 2018.

TAA in Many Shapes. Read an article about members of the 3rd Infantry Division - Sustainment Brigade who advise the ANDSF while stationed at HKIA. "Train, Advise, Assist, Sustain: 3ID RSSB Mission in Kabul", DVIDS, January 17, 2018.

Aussie Advising the KGC. An Australian Army Officer is busy mentoring Afghans at the Kabul General Garrison Command (KGC). Read his story in a dispatch by the Australian DoD, January 9, 2018.

Afghan CDO QC. The 14-week long Afghan Commando Qualification Course is graduating hundreds of newly-minted Commandos each class. The latest class saw 650 ANA Soldiers complete training. Hopefully the quality of the Commandos is still a factor. Read "Commando growth in full swing", DVIDS, January 24, 2018.

News on the 1st SFAB

More Advisors Heading to Afghanistan.The Washington Post reports that up to 1,000 more advisors are heading to Afghanistan this spring. (WaPo, Jan 21, 2018).

1st SFAB - "Fully Capable".  On February 8, 2018 the 1st Security Force Assistance Brigade will be recognized as fully capable at a ceremony at Fort Benning, Georgia. The 1st SFAB is scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan this spring.

JRTC Training Complete. The advisory brigade has completed its pre-deployment training. "The 1st of the 1st: 1st SFBA wraps up rotation at JRTC prior to deployment", DVIDS, January 25, 2018.

1st SFAB at JRTC. The Ops Group at Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana, has developed a unique training program for the 1st SFAB. (DVIDS, Jan 17, 2018).

1st SFAB to be Issued XM18 Handgun. Soldiers from the 1st SFAB got familiar with the XM17 handgun at JRTC in preparation for their Afghan deployment. "Soldiers Test New Modular Handgun System at Fort Polk", DoD, January 23, 2018.

Will the SFAB Work? Maybe. Wesley Morgan, a military writer, provides news on the 1st SFAB in "The Army's latest weapon to turn around the war in Afghanistan", Politic, January 26, 2018.

Insufficient Training for 1st SFAB? Thomas Gibbons-Neff has penned an article that contains some troubling revelations . . . in "Training Quick and Staffing Unfinished, Army Units Brace for Surging Taliban", The New York Times, January 26, 2018.

Long War Journal on the SFAB. Read "Newly created 'teaching' brigade prepares to deploy to Afghanistan", FDD, January 26, 2018.

Military Advisor Training Academy - MATA. The U.S. Army has established a new school for training advisors who will conduct security force assistance missions. Read about the new MATA.
www.sof.news/sfa/mata-military-advisor-training-academy

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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Advisors and the Afghan Security Institutions

Members of the TAAC-West medical staff and Police Advisory Team (PAT)
provide medical training to female members of the Afghan National Police (ANP)
 in Herat, Afghanistan. (Photo TAAC-West 2017).

The mission in Afghanistan is basically two parts. Part one is the train, advise and assist (TAA) mission and Part two is the counterterrorism mission. The majority of the NATO, partner nation, and U.S. troops are engaged in the TAA mission. Below are some recent news reports about the troops doing the TAA mission.

Advisors Needed at Tactical Level. Michele Flournoy and Richard Fontaine (both from the Center for a New American Security) list some lessons learned and provide some recommendations for the Trump administration on the Afghan conflict. Of the six or so lessons learned one seems key: providing more advisors at the tactical level (battalion) who are former U.S. battalion commanders and who have received MORE than two-weeks of training for their advising role. Read more in "The Afghan War is Not Lost", The National Interest, July 11, 2017.

Podcast about Advisors and the Insider Threat. The Modern War Institute of West Point has published a podcast by a U.S. Army NCO that experienced an insider attack (Green-on-Blue) at an Afghan police station. Listen to The Spear - An Insider Attack in Afghanistan, July 12, 2017.
https://mwi.usma.edu/podcast-spear-insider-attack-afghanistan/

Marines Back in Helmand Province. Two years ago the Marines left Helmand province after having spent millions of dollars in development projects and clearing much of the province of Taliban fighters. In two years the Afghan government and security forces managed to squander the hard-earned achievements of the Marines. Now the Marines are back again - at a significantly reduced force level to conduct the 'train, advise, and assist' mission. Read "Back in Afghan Hot Spot, U.S. Marines Chase Diminished Goals", The New York Times, July 14, 2017.

Marines 'Fly to Advise' the 505th Zone National Police. Marines from Task Force Southwest flew to the capital of Helmand province to spend some time with the Afghan National Police. See "Fly-to-Advise: Marines with Task Force Southwest visit the Provincial Headquarters", RS HQ, July 11, 2017.

AAF and TAAC-Air. Personnel from the 'Train, Advise, and Assist Command - Air' (TAAC-Air) and the Afghan Air Force (AAF) conducted a bilateral casualty evacuation mission and an aerial re-supply training exercise in July. See a news report by DVIDS, July 11, 2017.

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"Fly to Advise"

CPT Katherine Zamperini inspects
xray machine at FOB Gamberi
(photo SSG Houston)

The draw down of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to 9,800 by the end of December 2014 forced ISAF to make some difficult decisions on force structure and the overall mission. The two primary missions for the U.S. and ISAF in Resolute Support will be Security Force Assistance and counter-terrorism. Unfortunately, the planners at IJC and ISAF decided to leave two Afghan National Army corps uncovered - the 203rd in the southeast and the 215th in the southwest - citing manpower, medical, force protection, and support constraints. Both of these corps are in very conflict ridden areas. But according to ISAF the corps are still being covered by advisors - from a distance. For instance, the 203rd Corps is being 'advised' - but only through occasional visits by advisors (once a month?) and contact through email and cellphone. The ISAF Security Force Assistance Guide refers to this as either "Level 2" or "Level 3" advising. Some advisors are referring to this type of advising as "fly to advise". Read about how a medical doctor "flies to advise" her medical counterpart in the 203rd Corps in "Brave Rifles medical officer ensures Afghan medical facilities are sustainable", DVIDS, November 27, 2014.

"Cold Base" and Advising from Afar

SFA Advisor, CPT Jeff Burgett from 10th Mountain, interacts

with 203rd Corps counterparts in Feb 2014. At this time the

203rd Corps was still advised on a daily basis. (Photo by 

PFC Dixie Rae Liwanag).

The Coalition has shrunk its force in Afghanistan in preparation for the Resolute Support mission that will begin on January 1, 2014. In an attempt to reduce the force footprint to around 12,000 by the beginning of 2015 some decisions had to be made on where to place advisor teams. ISAF planners decided to pull advisory teams off two of the six Afghan National Army Corps - leaving no advisors in those regions to interact with the ANA corps, Afghan Border Police, Afghan National Police, and the Operational Coordination Centers (OCCs). Those two regions were the 215th Corps in Helmand province and the 203rd Corps in southeastern Afghanistan. Both regions are highly contested by the Taliban and other insurgent groups.

Naturally, the experienced SFA advisor would prefer to be "embedded" full-time on a permanent basis with the Afghan unit to maintain constant day-to-day contact with the advised unit. This would entail living and working on a Coalition base adjacent to or 'embedded' within an Afghan installation or base. But with the limited number of advisors in country and the counter-productive "risk adverse" attitude of higher command this is not always possible.

Efforts to maintain some type of communications (and influence?) with these two corps (203rd and 215th) are problematic. The ability to interact, influence, train, advise, and maintain situational awareness through emails and cell phone calls with an Afghan counterpart is extremely limited. So periodic visits to the corps are utilized. The Coalition attempts to stay in touch with the 203rd Corps utilizing what used to be called Level II Advising and now is referred to (at least informally) as a "Fly to Advise" methodology or "expeditionary advisory package". Apparently that is called an "EAP" for short; so another acronym for the glossary gets added.

However, flying into an Afghan base and staying for hours or days requires a support mechanism and facility to set up radios, a work center, and living / sleeping areas. Enter the "Cold Base" concept for advisors. In lieu of embedding with the Afghan unit or co-locating with an adjacent Coalition unit the advisors utilize the EAPs and Cold Base concept described in "A reduced presence does not equal a reduced commitment", DVIDS, December 13, 2014.

Afghan War News Snippets

Flying the Flag. Troops overseas are counseled about flying the U.S. flag in combat zones. Typically, the directives state that the flag should only be flown alongside partner nations (Iraq, Afghanistan, NATO countries, etc.). However, sometimes units operating at small fire bases or on patrols have trouble containing their patriotism. During a recent battle in Helmand province a Special Forces detachment took time out to briefly fly the American flag on top of a building. The SF team had suffered one death and two wounded during an intense firefight engagement with the Taliban. Read more on this topic in "This patriotic photo of Green Berets in Afghanistan is circulating after this week's deadly attack", by Dan Lamothe, The Washington Post, January 8, 2016.

Canadian Hostage Released by Taliban? A Canadian has been freed from captivity in Afghanistan after being taken hostage by the Taliban five years ago. Read more in "Canadian freed five years after Taliban kidnapping", Yahoo! News, January 11, 2016.

SACEUR Visit to Kabul. The Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) recently visited Resolute Support headquarters in Kabul and met with senior RS officers. See "SACEUR visits HQ RS", January 11, 2016.

Russia and TAPI. The gas pipeline that will (hopefully) run from Turkmenistan to India (crossing Afghanistan) is proceeding in its construction. The completion of TAPI is certainly not in Russia's interests and it is proposing several alternatives. Read "Russia and the TAPI Pipeline", The Jamestown Foundation, December 18, 2015.

Russia Supplying Wpns to Afg? More and more news reports say that Russia will possibly start providing weapons to Afghanistan. Russia is concerned about the increasing instability of Afghanistan and the possibility that jihadist groups will turn their eyes northward from Afghanistan towards the former Soviet republics of Central Asia. Read more in "Russia to Supply Small Arms to Afghanistan", Associated Press, January 13, 2016.

MoH Recipient Interview. Captain (Ret) Flo Groberg received the Medal of Honor for his actions in saving fellow servicemen during an attack in February 2012. Read an interview by Mike Kelvington posted on The Havoc Journal, January 15, 2016.

Doctors Absent from Rural Areas. Medical centres tend to be concentrated in urban areas, leaving villagers little access to care. Read more in "More Doctors Needed in Afghan Districts", Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR), January 2016.

New Book - "The Lovers". Rod Nordland, an author and correspondent for The New York Times, has wrote a book about a young Afghan couple who risked everything for love. Read more about the book at Harper Collins Publishers.

RS HQs Video. This 1-minute long video posted by Resolute Support HQs provides a brief explanation of the "Train, Advise, and Assist" mission of NATO in Afghanistan.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbt1R4DfASs

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