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Since 2006, Task Force Paladin has been International Security Assistance Force’s answer to the ever-adapting improvised explosive device fight.
TF Paladin’s overall mission is to counter the influence of IEDs and networks throughout Afghanistan in order to protect the Afghan people, ISAF and Afghan National Security Forces from insurgent attacks and free them from future attacks.
Until recently, the task force has been manned by individual augmentees from every branch of service. However, due to the continuous increasing number of personnel needed to conduct the mission, TF Paladin transitioned to the unit base solution, where an entire unit takes command and control of the task force.
The unit base solution officially took effect, Aug. 14, as the 52nd Ordnance Group, headquartered at Fort Campbell, Ky., assumed command of TF Paladin.
With the arrival of the 52nd comes an already fully functioning team ready to continue the mission, said U.S. Army Col. Thomas Langowski, 52nd Ordnance Group and TF Paladin commander.
“When you are strictly individual augmentees, you will never train together, you will never have the luxury or benefit of going through battle drills with a headquartered unit before deployment,” Langowski continued. “With the unit base solution, the unit is trained and you already have a rhythm established. Everyone is also already in tune to how the commander operates. There is no learning curve.”
A major emphasis of the 52nd moving forward is to continue and expand the partnership with the ANSF, which includes the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police. The goal is to give them the skills to not only defeat an IED but to also analyze past attacks in order to be more prepared for the next one, or even prevent it.
“We have to partner with them because at some point in the future we are going to leave, and the problems will not leave as we go,” said Langowski.
TF Paladin started from scratch when they first addressed ANSF counter-IED capabilities. The task force helped create a curriculum for ANSF troops to become IED experts.
Potential ANSF explosive ordnance disposal personnel are sent to the Afghan National Army Engineer School, EOD branch at Mazār-i-Sharīf, Balkh province, currently run by contractors.
The training they receive is broken down into two phases.
Phase one is a 12-week course during which students learn how to render conventional munitions, such as small arms or grenades, safe.
Phase two is a nine-week course designed to teach students specifically about IEDs – how they work, what to look for on the roads and how to destroy them or render them safe.
To date, 115 ANSF personnel have graduated from the course.
“The school is very important because we can’t partner with the ANSF EOD guys until they are created,” said U.S. Army Capt. George Hill, TF Paladin partnering officer in charge. “So, we are giving as much input and feedback as we can into getting the right people into the school so we can get them back to their units and start partnering with them.”
Once ANSF troops complete the course and return to their home unit, a mentorship and validation phase takes effect as they partner with ISAF EOD teams out in the field.
The ISAF EOD experts ensure that their ANSF counterparts are confident and capable through joint missions before letting them take the lead.
“The goal is that they won’t need us anymore, and they will be able to do everything on their own,” said Hill.
Paladin is also working toward implementing an ANSF Combined Explosives Exploitation Cell lab where they break down IEDs to their basic components, analyzing how the device works and how it was put together.
“We will teach them to trust the science and forensics of taking evidence off of the battle field and be able to show them how to associate those IED events to the people that could have created them,” said Langowski.
Another key mission for TF Paladin is ensuring that every ISAF service member understands and applies counter insurgency principals and practices; to treat the ANSF troops with dignity and respect.
“We are coming to the realization that partnering with the ANSF is the only way out [of Afghanistan],” said U.S Army Capt. Janine Robinson-Turner, TF Paladin deputy partnering officer. “That is why it is critical that soldiers receive COIN training before they even deploy. If we can get commanders and soldiers to believe in it then our mission here would be much easier.”
A common misconception among ISAF servicemembers is that ANSF troops are uneducated and unwilling to learn. That couldn’t be any farther from the truth, said Robinson-Turner.
“When you talk to ANSF, whether it is ANA or ANP, they are excited to work with us and are open minded,” she said. “One thing we have to do is think outside the box when we are training or conducting missions with them, because they are very intelligent. We just need to understand that they don’t learn like us.
“Once we realize they are intelligent and that they truly want to take care of their own people, we will achieve great measures,” she said.
As a new era begins for TF Paladin, one of the major goals is clear: to mentor and train the ANSF to be self reliant in the fight against IEDs.
“I can’t stress enough that if we are going to be successful in this theater, partnership is the only way,” said Hill. “We want to hand autonomy over to the ANSF and the only way we can do that is train our replacements. They are future and they have to take control of their own destiny.”
| Date Taken: | 08.20.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 08.20.2010 12:50 |
| Story ID: | 54917 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 191 |
| Downloads: | 3 |
This work, TF Paladin improves with unit base solution, expands partnership with ANSF, by SGT Jason Venturini, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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