Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Over 300 Advisor Teams to Help ANSF

Over 300 Advisor  Teams to Help ANSF

KABUL - More than 300 coalition teams, comprising thousands of specially trained advisors, would help Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) under a concept called the Security Force Assistance (SFA), a US military officer said on Tuesday.

The advisor teams started arriving in Afghanistan in March and the process would continue throughout the current year, US Army Brig. Gen. Billy Don Farris II said during a roundtable discussion with journalists in Kabul.
"Simply put, SFA is the employment of small advisor teams working day-to-day with Afghan units to help them be successful," he said, while expounding the concept that was approved by ISAF Commander Gen. John Allen last fall.

While much work had to be done to enable the Afghan army and police to operate independently, about three quarters of the combat units could function effectively, when supported with advisors, he added.
Director of future plans at the ISAF Joint Command Headquarters, the brigadier-general said: "We are at a point in the campaign in many areas where we no longer desire larger coalition formations maneuvering side by side with their Afghan counterparts…"

It was about time to start replacing some of the coalition battalion and company-size combat units with advisors, he said, adding the teams would be just a radio call away from providing close air support, attack aviation, artillery, intelligence, etc.

More importantly, he continued, the teams would instill confidence in Afghan leaders that they would receive quick help from their coalition partners. "We've done this before. We've taken our experiences from Iraq and applied the lessons learned…"

The official insisted leaders of the advisor teams -- better trained and better equipped -- had previous combat experience. He hoped they would operate effectively, when deployed to Afghanistan. (Pajhwok)