By Army 1st Lt. Gretchen McIntyre
RSC-N Public Affairs
CAMP MIKE SPANN, Afghanistan - Tracking the equipment coalition forces give to Afghanistan can be a time-consuming process. It involves traveling, key leader engagements, mentoring, advising and finally the actual inventory of all the trucks, weapons and other items. Even though NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan requests all Regional Support Commands conduct at least two End Use Monitoring visits per quarter, RSC-North surpassed that by visiting 29 different Afghan National Army units in the last quarter alone.
“It’s all about exhausting your resources and networking with the Afghans and coalition forces,” said Capt. Megan McDonough, the lead RSC-N EUM. McDonough, along with the rest of her team, spent the last quarter traveling to various locations to inspect materials transferred over to the ANA.
Inspections don’t simply include completing checklists, however. They ensure Afghan counterparts have a system in place to maintain, secure and account for all the defense articles procured to include weapons, trucks and night vision goggles. Once the RSC-N EUM team completes an inspection, verified serial numbers are documented and tracked through the Security Assistance Office-Afghanistan Validation Branch in Kabul.
The process is not an easy one, though. As the sphere of influence in northern Afghanistan shrinks, the ability to travel to all the necessary locations dwindles, McDonough said. Another struggle for the RSC-N team includes locating and coordinating with coalition mentor counterparts in more than 100 units without having any prior contact. The EUM team ensures the requirements for each unit are met, the security of the armory or motor pool is adequate, and the proper accountability and maintainability is enforced. When units struggle with any part of the inspection, it’s up to the EUM team to advise on how that particular unit can meet or exceed the standard, McDonough added.
“We mentor the Afghans on how to establish systems that work best for them in a way they can be successful,” said McDonough. “If they like it, and it works for them, then we like it.”
The RSC-N EUM team did such a fantastic job on their mission that they completed 100 percent of all ANA inspections at the end of December 2012, a full six months ahead of schedule.
Even though the RSC-N EUM team is well ahead of their counterparts in other regions, the tools the team used to be successful are helpful to any mentor in any region of Afghanistan.
“Be personable and actually care about what you’re doing,” said McDonough. “You have to care about the impact you’ll have on this country when we leave.”
While it’s ahead of schedule inspecting ANA units, the RSC-N EUM team will spend the next few months focused on completing the necessary inventories for the Afghan National Police.