PAKTIYA, Afghanistan - Task Force Southeast recently completed its first 30 days of responsibility for the Train, Advise and Assist mission in south-eastern Afghanistan.
Task Force Southeast’s mission is to train, advise and assist the Afghan National Army 203rd Corps and Afghan National Police 303rd Zone on operations, training and maintenance. The Task Force has conducted approximately 300 advising missions aimed at enabling the operational success of the 203rd Corps and 303rd Police Zone across seven Afghan provinces.
The Task Force is comprised of Soldiers and civilians from the 6th Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, Fort Bliss, Texas, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas, the 36th Infantry Division, Austin, Texas, the United States Department of Defense, and contractors from across the United States. Soldiers make up the two primary teams who advise the 203rd Corps and the 303rd Zone. They include the Military Advisory Team (MAT) and the Police Advisory Team (PAT) based out of Paktiya Province, Afghanistan.
The MAT’s maintenance advisers have been working directly with 203rd Corps logisticians to improve the Corps’ overall maintenance status, which is a critical component of the 203rd Corps commander’s priorities. The MAT assisted Afghan logisticians in identifying, preparing and turning in 38 vehicles with an additional 21 scheduled for turn-in later this month.
“New vehicles are vital for operations and movement of the Corps,” said 1st Lt. Keely Porterfield, MAT maintenance advisor assigned to 6-1 Cavalry Regiment.
The ability of the Afghan logisticians to turn in old or damaged vehicles and requisition new ones will greatly improve their ability to maintain, sustain and project military forces in the region, said Porterfield.
While the Afghan 303rd Police Zone faces different issues to those of the Afghan Army 203rd Corps, PAT advisors like Capt. Randall Davis, Explosive Ordinance Disposal advisor with the 1st Cavalry Division, has seen improvement by his counterparts.
“We have seen improved maintenance of vehicles ensuring operation readiness as well as stockpiling medical supplies and improving distribution systems,” said Davis.
These small, yet crucial improvements by the police zone will ensure they are able to better support the communities they serve and improve security in Afghanistan.
Telling the Afghan government’s story within the local provinces by security forces has traditionally been a struggle for Afghan National Defense Security Forces.
“By increasing their understanding on the importance of information sharing, the 203rd Corps has made significant strides to reinforce positive messages within the local provinces,” said
Maj. Adam Forrester, MAT public affairs advisor from the 36th Infantry Division.
Task Force Southeast advisors are firmly committed to the long term success of the Afghan Army 203rd Corps and Afghan Police 303rd Zone. These advisors working shoulder-to-shoulder with their Afghan counterparts have increased Afghan confidence in their ability to secure the local provinces year round, and helped bridge the gap in communication with the population. With each operation, the 203rd Corps and 303rd Police Zone continue to fine-tune their capabilities and display their ability to conduct security operations for their nation on their own.
“This is the ultimate goal for Coalition Forces in Afghanistan,” said Col. Matthew Van Wagenen, 1st Cavalry Division deputy commander and commander of Task Force Southeast, “We want the Afghan security pillars’ long-term success to be independent of Coalition Forces.”