A new organization is improving the ability of the Afghan National Army to move capable forces from its training center to the operational commands.
The sense of urgency for this new concept has only increased following the announcement of new plans to grow the Afghan National Army past the initial authorization of 82,000 to 135,000 in order to meet Afghanistan’s security needs.
The Consolidated Fielding Center, based at the army’s Pol-e-charki reservation near Kabul, assembles new units from training center graduates and sends them forward as organized, staffed and equipped teams so corps commanders can concentrate more on operations and less on administration, training and logistics. The center takes individuals and organizes them for the first time into a unit and establishes a chain of command. This vital step will improve both the quality and speed of the army's growth.
“The ANA was faced with tremendous problems when it came to fielding new units down range,” said Lt. Col. Jesse Edwards, senior mentor and team chief for the center. “The CFC was built to address system challenges that were preventing the ANA from growing capable units at a critical time in Afghanistan’s development.”
The Kabul Military Training Center conducts basic training and produces infantry soldiers and other qualified specialties out of new recruits. It also trains new officers and non commissioned officers for leadership roles in the growing army. Until now, the army did not have an efficient method to organize units, equip them and transport them to their assigned commands from the training center so that they could arrive as intact teams.
The deploying of manned and equipped teams is an essential precursor for the conduct of consolidated training at coy (company,) kandak (battalion) and brigade levels. These are interim steps, building blocks to a fully capable army that can conduct independent counter insurgency operations.
Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, which oversees the mission to develop Afghan National Security Forces, developed the concept and issued it to Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix for implementation last May. The center reached initial operating capability on July 10 and full capability on Sept. 21, when it graduated its first unit – 2nd Kandak, 3rd Brigade of the army’s 203rd Corps. The functioning center has now been transferred back to Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan's Combined Training Assistance Group as the center’s Afghan cadre also trains and grows.
“We were standing up the permanent Afghan training center as we were training and supporting the first unit,” said Edwards. “We met every milestone along the way.”
The challenges that his team of trainers and mentors overcame included the creation of the center’s structure and manning, establishment of facilities, obtaining needed equipment and developing the training program.
The center's structure is modeled after U.S. Army training support battalions used to support the deployment of mobilized Guard and Reserve units for federal active duty. While trainers and mentors from U.S. and coalition partners conceived and built the organization, the center belongs to the Afghan army.
“While we were graduating our first unit, we were simultaneously training the Headquarters of the 2nd Brigade, 207th Corps and its Combat Service Support Kandak and the 207th’s second infantry kandak,” said Edwards, adding that each unit undergoes an 8-week cycle following the soldiers’ training at the Kabul Military Training Center. Following its graduation, the first unit through the center completed its own independent movement to its new command the very next day.
The center addresses three challenges for the army: It organizes units for operational commanders before they are sent down range, provides initial collective training so team building is already underway before they reach their corps assignment and, because the soldiers have been issued their individual equipment and the unit has received organizational equipment, they come with an operational capability.
“From that moment, their unit effectiveness and survivability as a combat force is very much improved,” said Edwards.
Lt. Col. Paul Fanning is submitting photos to accompany this blog in a gallery, "Pictures from the Front." To view the most recent photos, which accompany this blog entry, click here. To view the entire gallery, click here.
