Yesterday a German NATO General called for 6000-7000 more troops in Afghanistan, and today our very own CJCS, Adm. Mike Mullen stated that his preference would be for 2 more additional combat maneuver brigades and an additional brigade for training forces. You can read it here, www.military.com/news/article/mullen-calls-for-afghan-troop-buildup.html
A while back, the SecDef stated he was planning for a surge of 9000 soldiers to Afghanistan next year, so three more brigades just further supports that. Three brigades would be roughly 9000-10000 more soldiers. I have been talking about this subject on this blog since last year, but more so since January. Task Force Phoenix is stretched way too thin since they were saddled with the Police mentoring mission. This happened in January 2007 and progress on either the Army or Police front has been tough at best. As my man Puss would always say, “You can do more with less, all you can do with less is less”.
Remember earlier this year when I wrote this peice about being ready for war? It was the same peice that was featured on the Sandbox site at gocomics.typepad.com/the_sandbox/2008/04/ready-for-a-war.html, well here it is regardless if you are ready or not.
32 coalition members have died in the month of June in Afghanistan, 19 in Iraq. There are several months left of summer and the enemy will be out in force. They are getting better and more brave all the time. The prison break alone was enough to distract the Afghan Army while they massed in the Angharab district and tried to put up a fight. Granted they succeeded in the prison break, and they suffered terrible losses in trying to go head to head with our forces last week, but they probably succeeded in showing the uneducated and un-informed Afghan public that they still pose a threat and that they can put up a fight against the coalition forces.
55 enemy fighters killed yesterday in my old stomping ground of Ziruk distict of the Paktika province, suicide bombers in Kabul and Herat, and some deadly IEDs with coordinated adn complex ambushes in the Khandagar province are all signs that the enemy is not cowering away and are ready to try and fight.
Even if they lose 20 in a fight, if we lose 1 American then that is 1 too many. We cannot afford to wait until next year to surge. We need to surge now, we need to drop another brigade in there NOW and go after the enemy forces with extreme prejiduce. These are some determined fighters with improving war-fighting skills and outside influence. There is evidence all over the county of Pakistan, Iranian and Chechyian influence at a minimum.
This afternoon I participated in another DOD sponsored Bloggers Roundtable sessions with COL McGrath, who is the Commander of ARSIC-South. ARSIC South has lost a lot of coalition (US and non US) soldiers/marines in the last nine days. In addition, they have had the now-famous Kandahar prison break happen and the temporary siege of the Arghandab district by Taliban militants. There were about eight journalists/bloggers on the session with COL McGrath which contributed to a wide variety of questions being asked. I personally asked him three questions, including a personally tough question that I asked at the end, which was even tougher for him to answer I am sure. This is one of the better roundtable sessions I have been on and I encourage all who are interested in Afghanistan or our servicemembers to take 30 minutes out of your day and listen to it.
Here is today’s Freedom Watch Afghanistan. Shows some good medical training for the Afghans, talks about recent clashes across the Pak border in Paktika province and the increase in German Forces.
You should head over to the ARSIC South blog site and check out this entry, arsicsouth7.wordpress.com/2008/06/20/afghan-villagers-caught-in-the-middle-of-conflict/ . It looks like this was reprinted from a reporter’s story, but what makes me want to spread the word about this is the fact that he captures exactly what I tell a lot of people about how the Afghan people just want security. Many of them don’t care who is in charge, as long as thier family is safe and they can lead productive lives raising thier families. This is no different than what any of us in America want, except for the fact that they have a much harder time doing it over there.
As highlighted in the story, we cannot be everywhere in the country at one time, so this cuases us to leave areas alone and that is where the enemy moves into. It is not that the Afghan people do not like coaltion forces, it is that the enemy forces bully them to provide assistance and the people just want to be left alone and be safe. This is no different then when a murder happens in the inner-city and regardless of the number of people that see it, nobody helps out the cops becuase they don’t want to be invlolved or get killed themselves.
TITLE/UNIT- Police Mentoring Team Sergeant, Task Force Phoenix VII
Q-What is the biggest difference you have seen so far between the training you experienced at Ft. Bragg and what you have seen on the ground?
The training at Ft. Bragg was not geared toward a specific mission in Afghanistan. There was Navy, Air Force, and Army representation all with different missions once in country. We did get equipped with common tasks that we apply toward our missions no matter what they are but the specific job of Police Mentorship was never taught or discussed so the learning curve in country had to be quick.
Q-Now that you have been on the ground for about two months, are there any areas of training you wished would have been covered more or in better quality during Pre-Mobilization and Post-Mobilization training?
The things that stand out the most are MEDEVAC, CAS, COMMO, and Vehicle Maintenance because our locations are so remote that often times our knowledge in these areas are our only option.
Q-Do you feel there was enough Afghanistan-specific knowledge and expertise shared with you and your men prior to deploying overseas? Was it enough? Too much? Does it matter?
Prior to deployment we as leaders were directed to a 40 hour cultural awareness program which I believe gave me the edge here in Afghanistan. I felt prepared culturally to understand what makes them who they are and why they make the decisions that they do. Knowing this has helped me make the battle field decisions that I have. While at Ft. Bragg they also attempted to teach us Dari to assist in our communications with the Afghans. Not knowing our exact location until we landed in country makes it hard to prep like this, considering where I am now happens to be a Pashtun speaking province. Having access to www.Tacticallanguage.com gave me the tools to prepare myself in this regard.
Q-You are now on a Police Mentoring Team (PMT). Do you feel that is the best use of your skills, or does it not matter right now because the ANP are still doing mostly infantry type basic tactics?
Working with the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) has been surprisingly more infantry than Police mainly because of the rough terrain found here. The Police carry RPG’s, AK-47’s, pistols, grenade launchers etc. They have been trained in room clearing operations, mounted and dismounted patrols, High Risk Vehicle Searches, Communications, Map reading, and movement as a fire team, which are all skills we are very familiar with. The skills however that I did not expect nor did I come here prepared to deal with were the logistical side of the house that we also mentor the Brigades with.
Q-The area of operation you are in is typically a very active enemy operating area. Have you seen anything that makes you think the enemy is more brazen, more deadly or less of either compared to what you heard the area was like before you got there?
Had you asked me this a week ago I would have said no. With recent events unfolding on FOX news we have just had a major prison attacked by the Taliban releasing all the prisoners (700 of which Taliban) and killing all the guards. Several hundred may have also come down from areas in the North to support the local Taliban. Major battles have recently taken place in the Arghandab district with some success. The Taliban is looking to regain control of this area and Kandahar City. Streets have been evacuated leaving local Nationals looking for new homes. In answer to your question, yes they are more brazen, more deadly than I expected.Their tactics and skills in IED’s, and sniper capabilities lead me to believe they are getting assistance from other countries.
Q-There have been reports that the enemy forces are shocked and amazed by the ANP directly engaging and killing them. Have you seen any example of this? Have you seen the ANP accurately engage the enemy and be successful?
I have witnessed first hand their ability to work with little assistance. Their training seems to be working, and their willingness to fight and improve their country surprises me on a daily basis. I was impressed during one mission where I was with 9 ANCOP on a raid of several villages and felt that they had my safety as a top priority and they followed orders exactly. The Afghan National Police (ANP) still have a severe lack of adequate training and are mostly a corrupt organization where as the ANCOP are better trained, often times better educated (most of which come from the Kabul province) and more trustworthy.
Q-How has the support been for your team from higher command, to include Task Force HQ? Are they able to effectively support you, or are you having to work deals with Big Army and/or coalition units to get all categories of support?
Not sure I want to answer this. This is probably the most difficult thing I have to deal with out here and it should be the Taliban! Support, what’s that? Just one example, we were notified a week before a new FDD (Federal District Development) was to take place. It is in a highly volatile area surrounded on both sides by the Taliban. The location still has no electricity, food other than MRE’s, no water, no air conditioning to get out of the 133 degree temperatures we’ve been experiencing, and no toilets. The list goes on. Air Support is hard to get if you even get it. Sometimes we have to act as our own QRF (Quick Reaction Force. We have been told on one occasion that they did not have the ammunition that we needed! The one asset that we’ve been using with success is a very advanced Surveillance System, I can’t get into the specifics on how it operates but it directly aids in Close Air Support missions of taking out the Taliban and we are being told (it could be rumor) that they are taking it away from us and giving it to another unit. This question is a sore spot with me because we are often undermanned and unsupported in the mission we were sent here to do.
Q-Since the 27th BCT is from New York and so many in the Brigade Task Force were directly affected by the attacks on Sept. 11th, 2001 do you feel that they are taking this mission personally and with more emotion than maybe other states have? Has anyone (coalition partners or soldiers from other states) said anything to you personally about this?
I carry the events of Sept. 11th, 2001 close to my heart as I am sure many if not all from the 27th BCT do. I am however surprised at how little I here about it.I think it is because we are so focused on what we are doing on a day to day basis. Our days tend to be long and overnight. Free time is almost non existent which does make the time go by faster so I can’t complain. I believe we have made this mission personal but I can only speak of myself.
Q-If you were President for a Day, what type of force structure and numbers would you like to see on the ground in order to be effective?
I am only a small cog in the bigger wheel so I can only say that from my perspective I believe we need a bigger troop surge to properly assist the local police agencies in cleaning up the streets and getting rid of the corruption and increase the training regiment to better prepare them. I couldn’t even begin to put a number to it except maybe to say “lotsâ€
Q-IS there one message that you would like to put out to the American people about Afghanistan, the mission you are performing there or what the Task Force is doing as a whole (please be as detailed as you like)?
The biggest thing I can say is that the people of Afghanistan want us here. They like what we are doing and assist us in a lot of ways whether it’s offering food and water, telling us where the Taliban are etc.
Here is today’s Freedom Watch Afghanistan. This is a really good one as they talk about the current ops in Kandahar, the building of a ANP outpost on the Pakistan border and how the Air Force converts 500lb dumb bombs into smart JDAMs.
You have to head over to blackfive at www.blackfive.net/main/2008/06/ok-whoever-thou.html and read this blog post. I heard about the helicopters, but to also be shipping an uparmored HUMVEE without escort is downright criminal also. This is just as big a screw up as when the Air Force shipped nukes across the USA by accident. There is someone in the logitics side of house that needs to be investigated and hung by thier nads for this.
Once when I was in A-stan we shipped a Russian-made D30 howitzer from my FOB in Sharana to FOB Bermel on the back of a jingle truck, but we had 30 ANA in a couple of trucks and six Americans in two HUMVEE gun trucks guarding it the entire way.
Is is stuff like this that makes me shake my head and wonder how someone could have thier head so far up thier fourth point of contact. Not just one person either, but all the ones who knew this would be happening.
