NATO Training Mission - Afghanistan

Today I presented awards and said “thank you” to 33 members of a detachment from the 162nd U.S. Army Infantry Brigade as they prepare to return to Fort Polk, Louisiana. These Soldiers who were all staff non-commissioned officers or officers who were mostly assigned to CTAG-P for six months as training advisors at our police training sites throughout Afghanistan. A few of the soldiers were responsible for Army training at CTAG-A. These guys arrived at CTAG-P shortly after our activation and at a critical moment when we began to “surge” training advisors to the police training sites. These leaders from “the 1-6-2” did a great job integrating into the training cadres at the sites. They partnered with coalition and Afghan trainers and staff at the training facilities and provided their expertise and coordination to enhance the quality of the instruction provided to the Afghans. These Soldiers were pioneers during the major expansion of the police training mission. Their accomplishments building the capacity of the ANP are truly historic. To the 162nd Infantry Brigade, I say Job Well Done!

Se il tuo elicottero decolla da KAIA e vola in direzione ovest, dopo poche miglia vedrai il futuro. No.. non sto parlando del film di Kubrick "2001 Odissea dello Spazio", ...sto parlando del futuro dell'ANSF.

Nella provincia di Logar, tra sabbia, sole, lavoro duro, un’unita’ dell’ANA sta facendo un ottimo lavoro addestrando personale dell’ANP appartenente alla TF 333.

Ho avuto l'opportunita' di visitare il loro monumento ai caduti,ove si ricordano i camerati caduti, ed ho avuto il privilegio di apporre la mia firma sul libro dei visitatori. Se un vecchio soldato trascorre un po' di tempo in questo luogo, avverte che l'atmosfera e' del tutto particolare, che non ci si trova in una unita' ordinaria. Il personale sembra in buona forma, gli ufficiali son motivati, fieri del proprio lavoro, la base e' pulita, ogni cosa appare in ordine. E quando i soldati ed i poliziotti hanno cura delle loro caserme, e' un buon messaggio. Ci son fiori intorno agli edifici, ed i soldati addestrano alcuni poliziotti, nelle classi e nelle aree addestrative circostanti. Vicino alla base c'e' un frutteto, piantato e coltivato dai soldati: migliaia di alberi di mandorle, pesche, albicocche, uva. Questi soldati e poliziotti son fieri del loro lavoro, della loro attivita', ed anche del loro frutteto. E son fieri delle gabbie pieni di piccoli pappagallini multicolori, che hanno collocato in un piccolo gazebo, dove abbiam discusso dei loro problemi bevendo un the'.

Ma io son rimasto particolarmente sorpreso dell'atteggiamento dei soldati afghani che ho incontrato. Alcuni di loro si son diplomati a Sandhurst, e forse costituiscono la spina dorsale dell'unita'.

L'esercito britannico ha fatto davvero un grande lavoro, addestrando e sostenendo la TF 333 nel passato, ma ora solo un ufficiale e' sul posto, e fornisce i propri consigli al Comandante Afghano, con una dedizione formidabile e fruttuosa, ma ora i nostri colleghi afghani gestiscono la base completamente, e conducono l'addestramento con grandi risultati.

 Gli occhi degli studenti sono intelligenti e svegli, ed essi appaiono pienamente consapevoli delle conseguenze della loro scelta.

 A volte la gente crede che questi ragazzi posseggano limitate capacita', ma... andiamo a Logar Province, e potremo veder qui come gli Afghani possono applicare con successo soluzioni afghane a problemi afghani. Andiamo a Logar Province e potremo vedere soldati e poliziotti lavorare assieme per trasformare l'Afghanistan in un paese migliore, per se' e per i propri figli.

If you take a helicopter from KAIA and fly to the south, after few miles you can see the future. No... I'm not talking about the Stanley Kubrick's movie "2001 Space Odyssey"... I'm talking about the Afghan ANSF future.

In Logar Province, amidst the sand and sun, TF 333 is doing a terrific job training ANP personnel. I had the opportunity to visit their memorial area were they remember their fallen comrades, and I had the privilege to put my signature on the guest book. If an old soldier spends some time in this place he can feel that the atmosphere is particular and that this isn't an ordinary unit.

The instructors and students are in good shape, the officers are motivated, proud of their job, the compound is cleaned and everything looks outstanding. And when soldiers and policemen care about their base it's a good message.

There are flowers around the buildings, and the instructors are training some policemen in the classroom and in the surrounding training areas. Near the base there is an orchard, planted and cultivated by the staff: thousands of trees of apricots, grapes, peaches. This policemen are proud of their job, of their activity, of their orchard too. They are proud of the cages containing plenty of colorful little parrots they placed in a small gazebo, where we could talk about their problems and drink a cup a tea.

I was particularly surprised by the attitude of the Afghan staff I met during this visit. Some of them had graduated from Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst in Great Britain and they are the backbone of the unit. The British Army did a very great job training and mentoring TF 333 in the past, but now only an officer is "on the spot" and he provides his advice and he supports the Afghan Cdr., with an outstanding and productive dedication. Our Afghan colleagues are fully responsible of the base and they run the training with great results. The eyes of the ANP students are clever and smart and they look fully conscious of the implications of their choice. Sometimes people think these boys have little capabilities, but ... let's go to Logar Province where one can see how the Afghan could successfully apply Afghan solutions to Afghan problems. Let's go to Logar, and we can see policemen and soldiers working together to transform Afghanistan in a better country for themselves and for their sons.

Oggi ho avuto l'opportunita' d'assistere ad un miracolo. Visitavo il Centro d'addestramento di Polzia di Helmand, a Lashkar Gar, Provincia di Helmand, gestito dai britannici. Li' e' schierato un piccolo distaccamento dei Queen Royal Lancers, fieri del loro teschio nero, che operano unitamente a poliziotti del Regno Unito.

Un'ottimo reparto che fornisce un altrettanto ottimo addestramento ai nostri studenti dell'ANP. Si tratta di una piccola unita', giovani e bravi soldati, che preferirebbero probabilmente fare un altro lavoro, ma sanno quanto sia importante la missione che e' stata loro affidata, e la svolgono bene.

On Thursday I had the opportunity to witness to a miracle. I was visiting the British Run Helmand Police Training Center, in Lashkar Gar, Helmand Province. There is a small detachment of the Queen Royal Lancers, proud of their black skull crest, working with UK Civilian Policeman. They are an outstanding training unit who provide professional, realistic and effective training to our ANP students. It's a small unit made up of good, young soldiers who probably prefer another job, but have understood how much their task is important and they are performing very well.