Afghan Army Training

From the MoD:

IN PICTURES: Training the Afghan Army to take on the Taliban themselves

A Military Operations news article

27 Jan 10

At the Afghan Army's Military Training Centre (KMTC) just outside Kabul, British, American and other NATO troops are working together to train and mentor thousands of Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers each month.

Afghan soldiers at the Military Training Centre outside Kabul
[Picture: Lt Sally Armstrong RN, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]

The training centre, with its vast exercise area littered with rusting Soviet-era tanks and derelict buildings, is located in the mountainous outskirts of the Afghan capital.

The ANA trainee soldiers at KMTC are recruited from all over Afghanistan. They pass through an eight-week training package of basic infantry and core military skills essential for fighting the Taliban - such as weapon handling, live firing, section attacks and compound clearances - before graduating and deploying to the various provinces in ethnically-mixed teams.

Some deploy to live and fight alongside British soldiers in Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams in Helmand province's Green Zone, where fierce fighting with insurgents takes place.

Others deploy to work alongside units like 1st Battalion The Royal Welsh, whose soldiers are partnered with ANA soldiers, and over the course of the next three months numbers will grow until an entire Kandak (the equivalent to a British battalion) will live and fight alongside the Royal Welsh soldiers.

Click here to see more pictures of Afghan soldiers at the Military Training Centre.

British infantry commander Lieutenant Colonel Nick Ilic is the UK Leadership Training Team's Commanding Officer, based at Camp Alamo, near KMTC.

He heads up a team of 64 British military personnel charged with overseeing the ANA's officer and senior non-commissioned officer training. The training of junior ANA soldiers is run by US military teams.

Lieutenant Colonel Nick Ilic (right)
[Picture: Lt Sally Armstrong RN, Crown Copyright/MOD 2010]

Lt Col Ilic explained why training the Afghan National Army is crucial to British success in Afghanistan:

"It is absolutely fundamental we get this right. This is our exit strategy. The guys down south in Helmand and elsewhere are holding the line, creating a safe environment for us to train the Afghan National Army to the right standard and quality so they can take on the fight when they're ready."...

To see all the pictures, and get the FACTS from those who know what they are talking about, go to the MoD here.