By Franz-Stefan Gady
Inside NATO’s Train, Advise and Assist Mission in Afghanistan.
It only took the convoy of buff-clad armored trucks a few minutes to reach its destination. Past a two-story empty school building riddled with bullet holes from a complex Taliban attack that killed over 50 in early December, and beyond a now empty bazaar where the worst carnage occurred during the insurgents’ assault, the U.S. military advisors arrive at the Afghan military base after driving less than half a kilometer.
The soldiers are dressed as if for a combat patrol, donning ballistics sunglasses, Kevlar helmets, tactical vests, and carrying assault rifles, side arms and ample ammunition. Even when walking inside the base along a small concrete pathway that leads to the headquarters of the 205th Corps of the Afghan National Army, the U.S. soldiers advance in tactical formation, their rifles at the ready, suspiciously eyeballing every Afghan passing them.
With the ever present danger of “green on blue” attacks—Afghan soldiers opening fire on U.S. military personnel—the Americans are not taking any chances, even when shuttling between two bases within a relatively secure defense perimeter. One successful attack could set back their advising efforts for weeks, or even months, and help fuel the flames of those within the American political establishment who increasingly question the rationale behind the United States’ mission in Afghanistan after 14 years of war.
NATO officially declared combat operations in Afghanistan over at the end of 2014 and reduced its troop level to around 13,000 in country. NATO’s combat mission was replaced by a “train, advise, and assist” mission: helping higher ranking Afghan staff officers establish new systems and processes to more efficiently run the military from the top down at the corps level. Only NATO Special Operations Forces are still training their Afghan counterparts at the tactical level.
Inside the headquarters building First Lieutenant David Witter, one of a few dozen NATO advisors based in Kandahar province, takes off his gear and exchanges his rifle for a notebook. A few warm embraces and handshakes with Afghan officers follow. Two U.S. soldiers—“guardian angels” or bodyguards—are discreetly shadowing the young American officer with their weapons ready. (Two guardian angels must accompany any U.S. advisor during their entire time at Afghan military installations.)
“It’s all about relationships. There are some officers you get along with better than others,” Witter explains. He is in the Afghan Corps’ Tactical Operations Center (TOC), a focal point for managing the 205th Corps, whose area of responsibility includes the provinces of Kandahar, Daykundi, Uruzgan and Zabul. “It is, however, with those officers with whom you have a closer personal relationship where you can have the most professional impact.”
On this December morning Lieutenant Witter is waiting for the shift change and for Major Nuzir to take over command of the TOC from another officer. Witter finds Nuzir notably receptive to his advice, which the American officer partially attributes to better interpersonal chemistry between the two. Like the majority of advisors, he has to conduct his business through an interpreter since he is not fluent in Pashto or Dari.
Read the full story at The Diplomat