HERAT, Afghanistan – The incoming Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe, British Lt. Gen. Sir Richard Shirreff toured NATO Training Mission Afghanistan assets in Regional Command-West Jan. 22, 2011.
Shirreff is visiting all six regional commands in Afghanistan to gather a complete picture of the accomplishments and challenges facing NATO forces here.
“What I wanted to achieve was to get to feel as close to grassroots as possible,” Shirreff said. “The direction of the campaign, how it’s going, the challenges and the issues as far as the NATO force generation process is concerned, and I got that picture.”
At RC-West Headquarters in Camp Arena, Shirreff received an operational update and then traveled to the Adraskan NTM-A Police Specialty Training Center.
The Italian Specialty Training Team showed Shirreff around the Afghan National Police force training center including the firing range, barracks, dining and gym facilities.
He finished his tour with a visit to Camps Stone and Zafar where he met the Operational Mentor and Liaison Team and Afghan National Army 207th Corps commander.
“I’m clear about the imperative of growing Afghan security and there is no question that I have met some very impressive Afghan commanders and seen real progress in that respect,” Shirreff said. “I’ve had a superb visit. I got a real sense of clear unity of purpose and effort right from the top to the sharp end.”
Shirreff’s visit was one stop on his tour of all Afghanistan RC areas.