thedrifter
12-09-07, 07:27 AM
Fort Riley adviser mission reaches milestone
By John Milburn - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Dec 8, 2007 8:15:06 EST
TOPEKA, Kan. — Teams of military advisers will soon be heading to Afghanistan to help the nation’s security officials validate soldiers and police officers capable of standing alone.
The advisers completed their training at Fort Riley on Friday and were part of a class of 500 advisers heading to Afghanistan for one-year missions.
Lt. Col. Bob Baer, one of the officers heading to Afghanistan, said the deployment of validation teams was “a good news story.”
Baer said the Afghan forces have demonstrated that they are capable of a new phase of training and organization based on their progress since coalition forces began fighting the Taliban in 2001.
“Now is the time, based on their experience, to begin more complex collective training,” Baer said. “It is a good news story. Now we are able to look at some of the systemic problems that they face, like maintaining equipment and supply.”
The validation teams will collect data about the Afghan forces and make recommendation to coalition and Afghan officials about units that are ready to fight alone without assistance. Teams will also start helping Afghan forces develop their own training and doctrine.
Each validation team will have three Americans, one interpreter and two senior Afghan soldiers. Sgt. Major Martin Roy said the Americans would be “the graybeards” of the team, which would be embedded with Afghan units.
Senior military officials have viewed the adviser mission as a key element to stabilizing Afghanistan and Iraq by developing security forces capable of defending the nations from terrorists and outside foreign fighters.
About 50,000 Afghan army soldiers and 75,000 police have been trained so far, with plans to create a 70,000-member army and 82,000-strong police force by the end of 2008.
Maj. Ronnie Denson, a member of the validation team, said expectations were high among soldiers that the Afghan forces would be ready to take the next step. The soldiers recently spent several days working with Afghan forces who traveled to Fort Riley to conduct joint training. The U.S. troops will see many of the Afghan forces again soon.
“We’re cautiously optimistic,” Denson said.
Maj. Rob Goodroe, an infantry battalion commander that is part of Fort Riley’s training program, said the validation team development was part of the maturity of the adviser mission, which takes 60 days.
Over the past year, advisers have received more specialized training depending on what each soldier’s role will be once deployed, going beyond just being able to shoot and communicate.
“Just because there’s a decrease in violence doesn’t mean we are cutting back on training them to operate in a hostile environment,” Goodroe said.
Friday’s graduates join the more than 3,200 transition team members already deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The graduates represented one of the largest to be processed through Fort Riley since the mission began more than a year ago.
The ceremony at Fort Riley’s Camp Funston included some 250 National Guard soldiers from Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, New Jersey, the District of Columbia and Texas.
Other team members were from the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Ellie
By John Milburn - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Dec 8, 2007 8:15:06 EST
TOPEKA, Kan. — Teams of military advisers will soon be heading to Afghanistan to help the nation’s security officials validate soldiers and police officers capable of standing alone.
The advisers completed their training at Fort Riley on Friday and were part of a class of 500 advisers heading to Afghanistan for one-year missions.
Lt. Col. Bob Baer, one of the officers heading to Afghanistan, said the deployment of validation teams was “a good news story.”
Baer said the Afghan forces have demonstrated that they are capable of a new phase of training and organization based on their progress since coalition forces began fighting the Taliban in 2001.
“Now is the time, based on their experience, to begin more complex collective training,” Baer said. “It is a good news story. Now we are able to look at some of the systemic problems that they face, like maintaining equipment and supply.”
The validation teams will collect data about the Afghan forces and make recommendation to coalition and Afghan officials about units that are ready to fight alone without assistance. Teams will also start helping Afghan forces develop their own training and doctrine.
Each validation team will have three Americans, one interpreter and two senior Afghan soldiers. Sgt. Major Martin Roy said the Americans would be “the graybeards” of the team, which would be embedded with Afghan units.
Senior military officials have viewed the adviser mission as a key element to stabilizing Afghanistan and Iraq by developing security forces capable of defending the nations from terrorists and outside foreign fighters.
About 50,000 Afghan army soldiers and 75,000 police have been trained so far, with plans to create a 70,000-member army and 82,000-strong police force by the end of 2008.
Maj. Ronnie Denson, a member of the validation team, said expectations were high among soldiers that the Afghan forces would be ready to take the next step. The soldiers recently spent several days working with Afghan forces who traveled to Fort Riley to conduct joint training. The U.S. troops will see many of the Afghan forces again soon.
“We’re cautiously optimistic,” Denson said.
Maj. Rob Goodroe, an infantry battalion commander that is part of Fort Riley’s training program, said the validation team development was part of the maturity of the adviser mission, which takes 60 days.
Over the past year, advisers have received more specialized training depending on what each soldier’s role will be once deployed, going beyond just being able to shoot and communicate.
“Just because there’s a decrease in violence doesn’t mean we are cutting back on training them to operate in a hostile environment,” Goodroe said.
Friday’s graduates join the more than 3,200 transition team members already deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The graduates represented one of the largest to be processed through Fort Riley since the mission began more than a year ago.
The ceremony at Fort Riley’s Camp Funston included some 250 National Guard soldiers from Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, New Jersey, the District of Columbia and Texas.
Other team members were from the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Ellie