Afghanistan National Security Forces: June 2008 Update

 The June 2008 updates to the Afghan National Security Forces Order of Battle are now available at the ANSF OOB homepage. The significant changes to the Order of Battle that occurred since January are summarized below.

Afghan National Army (ANA) & Organizational goals:

The strength of the ANA stands at approximately 60,000 out of a goal of 80,000. In February 2008, the organizational goals for the ANA were updated. The new plan is complete the fielding of the following units by September 2009:

• 80,000 troops
• Five corps HQ
• 15 brigade HQ including:

    o 13 light infantry brigade HQ
    o One armored brigade HQ
    o One commando brigade HQ
    o One support brigade HQ

• 78 battalions including approximately:

    o 40 infantry battalion
    o Six commando battalion
    o Two armored/mech battalion
    o 15 combat support battalion
    o 15 combat service support battalion

Given Afghanistan's limited resources, the plan is designed to create a force that Afghanistan can maintain in the long run. New ANA units continue to be trained and deployed.

Corps deployment:

All five corps HQs are operational.
• Since early 2008, 201st Corps has redeployed its brigades. 1st , 2nd, and 3rd Brigades each now own their own AORs in eastern Afghanistan.
• By Spring 2008, 201st and 203rd Corps will receive two new brigades. It is likely each corps will receive one new brigade resulting in each corps having four brigades.
• 205th Corps has expanded to four brigades with one brigade each in Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan, and Zabol provinces.
• 207th Corps has started training a second brigade that will be based in Farah province. It will be operational by Spring 2009.
• No further expansion of 209th Corps is expected.

Brigade deployment:

Twelve of 15 combat brigade HQs are deployed:
• There are 11 light infantry brigades. Two more light infantry brigades will deploy by Spring 2008.
• There is one armored brigade, 3rd Brigade/201st Corps, based in Jalalabad. But, it is being trained and utilized as infantry due to a lack of the required heavy equipment. It is unclear when this situation will change.
• The status of the commando brigade HQ is unknown.

Battalion deployment:

Fifty-two of 78 battalions are deployed:
• 36 infantry battalions have been deployed.
• Four of six commando battalions have deployed. The last two are expected to deploy by September 2008.
• Two2 heavy battalions have been trained and deployed as infantry due to the lack of heavy equipment.
• Each of 15 brigades is to have a combat support battalion. These battalions, however, are still in a very early state of development. Ultimately, they will include an armored reconnaissance company, an engineer company, and an artillery battery. Artillery capability is being implemented first and this activity is only just starting. Several brigades are in the processes of training an artillery section (three guns). It will likely be September 2009 before all combat support battalions are formed, equipped, trained, and deployed.
• Six infantry and two combat service support battalions have yet to deploy. These will fill out the two remaining infantry brigades that are schedule to deploy by Spring 2008.

Equipment:

A major effort is underway to convert the ANA from Russian-designed small arms (AK47 assault rifles, RPK PKM machine guns) to US-designed small arms (M16/M4 rifles, M249, M240B machine guns). The first to convert were the commando battalions and 1st Brigade of 205th Corps.

The ANA is standardizing on D30 122mm guns as its primary artillery pieces. The ANA is starting to receive up-armored HUMVEEs.

Afghan National Air Corps (ANAC)

A new eight-year plan for the development of the ANAC has been announced. Over the next four years, development will focus on air transport capability, first on MEDIVAC using helicopters flying from Kabul and Kandahar, followed by operational transport capability using C27 cargo planes. Close air support and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capability will follow, becoming operational by 2015.

Afghan National Police (ANP)

The strength of the ANP stands at 76,000 with a goal of 82,000. There remains significant training and equipment shortfalls.

Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP)

The ANP began developing the ANCOP in 2006 . With selective recruiting and a long 16-week training program, the ANCOP is a high-end SWAT unit. The ANCOP was originally envisioned as forces distributed around the country, but it has been retasked and is now being extensively used to support the “Focused District Development” training program for the Afghan Uniform Police. There are currently 10 ANCOP battalions.

Afghan Uniform Police (AUP)

By far, the most important development in the ANP has been the implementation of a major new training plan. This plan consists of additional training resources and two new training programs.

Improvement in resources came from the temporary deployment of 2,300 Marine trainers and an additional 200 trainers from other NATO countries. In the long run, however, training resources are still about 50 percent under requirement.

The new training programs consists of the “Individual Training” program and the “Focused District Development” program:
• Individual Training: 15 training centers have been set up throughout Afghanistan to provide new recruits eight weeks of basic training.
• Focused District Training program: This program is targeted at the 40,000 AUP that are already in the field but have not been adequately trained. In this program, eight districts are a time are selected, the most critical districts first. The AUP are removed from their districts and sent for eight weeks of collective training. While they are gone, they are replaced by an ANCOP unit. The program started in January 2008. The plan is to complete the training of the 52 most critical districts in 2008 and all 414 districts and urban precincts in Afghanistan by the end of 2011.

Summary

Overall, significant progress has been made. Development in 2007-2008 is occurring at a much faster pace than in 2002-2006. ANSF is now leading fights, wining battles, and becoming a respected institution.

It is hoped that the ANSF will be able to take over security for Afghanistan around 2011 allowing ISAF to start reducing its forces. Yet, there is still a long way to go.