TARIN KOWT, Afghanistan – A dozen Afghan National Policemen stand in front of the room. They all wear signs with strings around the backs of their necks. One says “ANP,” another says “Coalition Forces,” another, “Tribal Leaders.” Each sign – with writing in English, Dari and Pashtu - indicates a different group of individuals.
The sign-wearing exercise is part of counterinsurgency, or COIN training, taught by a mobile training team of experts.
“The MTT uses practical and interactive methods of instruction to engage [Afghan National Security Force] audiences and promote comprehension and retention through hands-on and verbal means,” said Royal Australian Regiment Capt. James Coltheart, lead COIN adviser for Mobile Training Team-South.
“One of our key classes is the Afghan COIN interactive presentation that uses class members as props and actors to physically demonstrate scenarios,” said Coltheart.
The scenarios are designed to show who the insurgents are, reasons that led to the insurgency, how the insurgents develop support from the people, how poor practices by security forces and the government can generate support for insurgents, and what counterinsurgents can and are doing to win the support of populations.
Coalition forces and civilians provide advice and guidance, but members of the Afghan National Security Force are instructing the courses.
“The main emphasis is now on transition,” said Coltheart.
When ANA instructor Col. Abdul Rahim teaches his fellow soldiers, he knows he’s providing instruction for more than just the men in the room.
“I am pleased to know all of the leaders will go out and then train other soldiers on counterinsurgency,” said Rahim.
Coltheart says Rahim and another ANA instructor, Capt. Abdul Mafooz, are fully competent to provide lessons without assistance.
“This training is very much Afghan delivered,” said Coltheart.
“All of the training, except for a couple of modules, which are handled by subject matter experts, is taught by ANA soldiers.”
The training is tailored to audience requirements and varies from single class sessions to four-day COIN fundamentals courses.
“Typically, the team spends half or one day running basic COIN training for soldiers, police and junior leaders that aims to support professionalization of the ANSF by introducing common COIN language, explaining basic COIN concepts and facilitating professional discussion aimed at better understanding the operating environment and developing a COIN mindset,” said Coltheart.
The team conducts training on all of the Afghan National Army and police training institutions in Regional Command-South and has trained patrolmen and soldiers in all of the southern provinces of Kandahar, Zabol, Uruzgan and Daikondi.
Anywhere from 10 to 60 students attend each course, but Coltheart says they prefer classes of 20 to 50 students to enable effective interaction, comprehension and retention.
The training blocks are tailored for audience requirements, but the team generally discusses COIN within the context of individual and collective actions of populations, insurgents and counterinsurgents.
“Often coalition forces seem to relate to COIN as part of some mystical debating competition for military intellectuals, or vague clutter on a brigade mission statement; however, the Afghan experience of insurgency is rooted in the violence, lawlessness and disorder that has characterized generations since 1979,” said Coltheart.
“If we seek to understand what is happening in Afghanistan from the perspective of the numerous pervasive insurgencies across the country, then as part of professionalizing security forces and government, we have an obligation and a need to discuss why and how this happens in order to promote an understanding of what we, as a force for good in Afghanistan, can do about it.
“COIN training is important at all levels across [the] ANSF in order to promote a mindset that understands the individual and collective obligation of soldiers and police to protect and build relationships with people as the key to mission success,” he said.
| Date Taken: |
11.27.2011 |
| Date Posted: |
11.27.2011 02:22 |
| Story ID: |
80585 |
| Location: |
KANDAHAR, AF |
| Web Views: |
242 |
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