The Torch: More NATO trainers for Afstan

Get 'em where you can:

HOHENFELS, Germany — European nations are answering a U.S. call for more trainers to work with the Afghan National Army.

Gen. John Craddock, NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe, told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week that more European trainers were needed.

He said the International Security Assistance Force, which is running NATO’s Afghan mission, “still has shortfalls against the minimum military requirement in some key locations and in certain key capabilities.…”

“Specifically,” he said, “a major shortcoming … is the deficit in Operational Mentor and Liaison Teams.”

He said 22 additional teams would be needed by January to keep pace with current Afghan National Army growth.

On Monday, Lt. Col. Jody Petery — who leads a team providing predeployment training for operational mentor and leadership teams at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany — said several European nations have answered the call.

“The NATO folks have done an excellent job signing up more nations. There is an agreement to add… [an OMLT predeployment training] rotation in July and four more next fiscal year,” he said.

Each rotation involves about 20 teams, each with 12 to 40 members, he said.

Some new teams will be from Hungary and Latvia, which have not previously provided teams, he said. Trainers from those nations will be partnered with U.S. troops under a program called the State Partnership for Peace, which links European armed forces with National Guard units.

“These are just the first two nations who have signed up. We expect more,” Petery said.

Hungarian Army Maj. Gen. Istvan Juhasz, who visited Hohenfels this week to observe the OMLT training, said his nation had responded to the call for more troops in Afghanistan.

Juhasz and other Hungarian soldiers watched an exercise in which a Canadian team and Afghan troops cooperated in a simulated hostage rescue [emphasis added]. Nearby, teams from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden did similar training.

Sixty to 70 troops will be added to the 260 to 270 Hungarian military personnel serving in Afghanistan, he said.

Hungary also will take on some new operations including special forces missions, security at Kabul International Airport and the OMLT work, he said.

Next year, European nations will contribute about 75 percent of the trainers in Afghanistan, up from about 50 percent this year [emphasis added], Petery said.

“If the NATO countries don’t contribute all the teams, the U.S. makes up the difference with [Embedded Tactical Trainer] teams. This increased commitment will allow ETTs to spend more time with the Afghan National Police,” he said.

The impact on security should be significant since many Afghan police units lack mentors, he said.

“If they get trainers with the Afghan police there is going to be a big increase in capability,” he said.