Afghan Army’s Turnover Threatens U.S. Strategy
Note: I expect there have been posts about the ANA / ANSF elsewhere, notably 'green on blue' but this thread is for the ANA.
So catching up on my reading of Kings of War:http://kingsofwar.org.uk/2012/10/willy-wonkas-war/ a hat tip to them for this NYT article:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/16/wo...&smid=fb-share
KoW highlights, citing an Afghan general:
Quote:
We’re not concerned about getting enough young men,just as long as we get that $4.1 billion a year from NATO.
I found these snippets of note, partly as I cannot recall seeing them of late:
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Now at its biggest size yet, 195,000 soldiers, the Afghan Army is so plagued with desertions and low re-enlistment rates that it has to replace a third of its entire force every year....a 3% rejection rate for recruits....in June..there are still no units that American trainers consider able to operate entirely without NATO assistance.....the Army’s desertion rate is now 7 to 10 percent...Put another way, a third of the Afghan Army perpetually consists of first-year recruits fresh off a 10- to 12-week training course.
Progress is slow in 2012: 2014 is close
Quote:
The Pentagon released its bi-annual assessment of the war in Afghanistan, which shows security is increasing in populated areas, even if violence is up. The report also shows that only one of the 23 Afghan National Army brigades is capable of operating independently without air or other military support from U.S. or international forces. A senior defense official who briefed reporters at the Pentagon said the "fighting capability" of the Afghan forces and the fact that they carry out independent operations at many levels, even if those operations require coalition support, means they are far more capable than they were.
Link to NYT report:http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/11/wo...says.html?_r=0
Link to DoD report:http://www.defense.gov/news/1230_Report_final.pdf
Transition comes at a price
An IISS Strategic Comment 'Afghanistan's security transition reaches key point', which covers a number of subjects and is optimistic. This caught my attention as it illustrates bloodily what transition means:
Quote:
As a result of the ANSF taking the tactical lead in many areas, including those in which insurgents were more active, ANA casualties doubled in 2012 to 1,056. This casualty rate is double that of the other Afghan security forces. While 42% of the 315 NATO fatalities in 2012 were as a result of IEDs, over 80% of ANA fatalities were caused in this way, a stark demonstration of their lower level of counter-IED capability.
Link:http://www.iiss.org/publications/str...hes-key-point/