AFGHAN FORCE Managers


Developing


CSTC-A’s Capabilities Development Directorate helps Afghan of ficers learn how to build, employ and resource units.


by Col. Garrett D. Heath and Lt. Stephen E. Webber O


n Camp Resolute Support in Kabul, Afghanistan, officers from the Afghan National Army (ANA) and Afghan National Police (ANP) gathered from


April to June to hash out the fundamentals of what, until recently, was a foreign concept to most if not all of them: force management.


Trough open-ended brainstorming exercises in which there were no wrong answers, just learning opportuni- ties, the students created hypothetical units, such as a new Kandak (an ANA battalion). In the process, they addressed the unit’s structure, manning, equipping, training and sustainment while balancing materiel requirements with available resourcing. Tey determined the hypothetical unit’s purpose and how it would be employed, then discussed how to resource it and the pos- sible trade-offs necessary to field the unit given current and foreseeable fiscal constraints.


Tis kind of inquiry, analysis and planning, provided in an eight-week course taught by advisers from the Capabilities Development Directorate (CDD) of the Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan


(CSTC-A), is essential before ANA and ANP force man- agers can effectively advise their Afghan senior leaders on translating strategy to army and police structure. CDD implemented the course, “Force Management: Te Basics,” as part of its routine train, advise and assist mission. Te four-hour classes, which took place every Wednesday for the three months, are a key component of our work with Afghan partners to enhance their abilities to advise senior leaders independently over the long term.


LAYERS OF COMPLEXITY U.S. force management consists of very mature processes that establish and field mission-ready organizations. In Afghanistan, the processes are far less mature and focus on the basics of planning personnel and materiel require- ments within resource constraints for unit authorization documents. Increasing the maturity of these processes requires that the Afghans have a greater understanding of doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership, personnel, facilities and policy (DOTMLPF-P), as well as doctrine development and sustainability and afford- ability analysis. Today, CDD is responsible for advising both the Ministry of Defense (MOD), which governs the ANA, and the Ministry of Interior (MOI), which


ASC.ARMY.MIL


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ACQUISITION


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