{"id":48020,"date":"2014-09-26T09:05:04","date_gmt":"2014-09-26T09:05:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=c3c20a77088124a927872447a85b7f5c"},"modified":"2014-09-26T09:05:04","modified_gmt":"2014-09-26T09:05:04","slug":"news-story-uk-military-mentoring-in-afghanistan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=48020","title":{"rendered":"News story: UK military mentoring in Afghanistan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The graduation of officers from the Afghan National Army Officer Academy (ANAOA<\/abbr>) in Kabul is the first major achievement for the Academy.<\/p>\n

Since ANAOA<\/abbr> began training the first recruits last October, the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF<\/abbr>) mentoring team, including British soldiers, have been teaching the ANA<\/abbr> trainers and their cadets to understand that there\u2019s more to an army than just fighting.<\/p>\n

A good army needs to be fit, sustainable and able to manage its budget. There\u2019s much more to it than that, but understanding these broad requirements was something the mentors at ANAOA<\/abbr> needed to get across to the Afghan instructors.<\/p>\n

One of the physical training mentors at ANAOA<\/abbr> is Sergeant Zoe Leeming from the Royal Army Physical Training Corps<\/a>. She has spent the past 5 months working with 3 other ISAF<\/abbr><\/a> mentors to guide 12 male and female Afghan physical training instructors so they have the knowledge to train the cadets to get fit. She said:<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s been quite a challenge, but we\u2019ve made huge progress. When the female cadets signed up to serve their country, they didn\u2019t realise that joining the army meant having to be fit. Getting them used to the physical aspect of training was something we needed to address.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\"Sergeant<\/div>
Sergeant Zoe Leeming and Major Cath Carter [Picture: Crown copyright]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When the first intake of female cadets arrived at ANAOA<\/abbr> in June, many of them had never done any kind of physical exercise. Zoe continued:<\/p>\n

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Now, they\u2019re able to do 5k runs and leopard crawls and, with that sort of enthusiasm, their fitness levels will only increase.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Mentors and the ANA<\/abbr> have also been challenging cultural assumptions by demonstrating that mixed teams of male and female soldiers can work together to improve the army\u2019s operational capabilities.<\/p>\n

Major Cath Carter of the Royal Logistic Corps<\/a> has been working with the Afghan unit leaders to promote mixed teams. She said:<\/p>\n

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We\u2019ve seen positive signs of attitudes changing across the ANA<\/abbr> community. Both sexes are realising that integration isn\u2019t a big issue and that\u2019s really good. As more people see the men and women working alongside each other, the more it will be considered the norm.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Cath also works with other mentors to ensure the Afghans are comfortable with the changes made so that they are long-term and sustainable. <\/p>\n

VIDEO: Afghan army training in Afghanistan<\/h4>\n

Afghan army training in Afghanistan<\/a><\/p>\n

Also helping the Afghans to build a sustainable security and defence force is Major General Richard Nugee, Chief of Staff at ISAF<\/abbr> Joint Command in Kabul. The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF<\/abbr>) and the ANA<\/abbr> have been leading on combat operations and security in Afghanistan for some months. Major General Nugee explained:<\/p>\n

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Last November we cleared around 60 burnt-out vehicles that had been destroyed on the main road between Kabul and Kandahar.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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This year the insurgents started a similar campaign in exactly the same place. Following negotiations between the police and the army, the ANA<\/abbr> cleared the area and found a load of improvised explosive devices.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The ANA<\/abbr>\u2019s ability to step in and take control of the situation, during a time that is known as the \u2018fighting season\u2019, demonstrates the ANA<\/abbr>\u2019s growing capabilities. Although there were spikes in violence around the elections, the ANA<\/abbr> has seen a reduction in the level of violence over the past 3 years, showing that they are competent and confident enough to look after their own country\u2019s security.<\/p>\n

As well as developing the ANA<\/abbr>\u2019s combat skills, ISAF<\/abbr> is also helping them develop the skills and organisation they need to support them. Major General Nugee continued:<\/p>\n

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We\u2019ve come a long way, but there\u2019s more work to do. We\u2019re building their training institutions, their logistics and sustainment institutions, intelligence architecture and ability to communicate. All these things are not fighting, and that\u2019s why we need to be there for them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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\"Major<\/div>
Major General Ben Bathurst [Picture: Crown copyright]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While Major General Nugee advises on tactical-level support for the ANA<\/abbr>, Major General Ben Bathurst, from ISAF<\/abbr> headquarters in Kabul, works in the MOD<\/abbr> advisory team on strategy, logistics, institution, programming and budgeting. He said:<\/p>\n

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So much has been accomplished and the Afghans are doing most of it themselves. They appreciate the advice they are getting and acknowledge we\u2019re not there to do things for them.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

From the improvements in ANSF<\/abbr> leading on security for their people, keeping the insurgents at bay, and the ANA<\/abbr> increasing in strength as officers graduate from the Academy, it\u2019s clear that many UK service men and women have contributed towards building a strong sustainable defence force for Afghanistan. <\/p>\n

Major General Bathurst added:<\/p>\n

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Our legacy for Afghanistan is enabling them to sustain what they\u2019ve achieved so far and develop it further. We don\u2019t have any worries about the Afghans looking after themselves now. It\u2019s the longer term that we\u2019re focused on and we\u2019re making sure we get it right.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

British troops in Afghanistan have been leading the way on building a modern army.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48020"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=48020"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48020\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=48020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=48020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=48020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}