Mentoring Afghan gunners/ANA 205 Corps

From the April edition of Canadian government newsletter, Focus Afghanistan ("In Focus: Canadian Forces", take a look):

Artillery development in the Afghan National Army

Government of Canada

In six months of work at a patrol base in Panjwayi District of Kandahar Province, a team of Canadian artillery mentors has seen impressive progress in the artillery battery in Kandak 4 of the 1st Brigade, 205 Corps 4/1/205, Afghan National Army (ANA).

The Canadians are artillery and infantry soldiers from the 2nd Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group in Petawawa, Ontario, who live and work full­time with their Afghan counterparts.

The Afghan gunners have significantly improved their skills at every level. The soldiers’ personal gun drill is sharp and professional, the senior soldiers have increased their role in decision­making, and the battery officers have enhanced their technical skills so much that direct mentorship is less and less necessary. The 4/1/205 Artillery Battery is now able to support Afghan national security forces with lethal and non­lethal effects by day and by night.

“The ANA Artillery surpassed our greatest expectations by the second month of our mission,” said artillery mentor Warrant Officer Dwayne Colbourne. “The ANA soldiers are making progress, and everything since then has been above and beyond what we thought achievable.”

Training initiatives

Unlike the infantry units of 1/205 ANA, the 4/1/205 Artillery Battery manages its own training cycle, and its leaders have done an excellent job of addressing the challenges presented by frequent rotation of personnel due to leave and training requirements. The battery’s multi­disciplinary approach to training gives equal weight to personal development and artillery­specific technical skills. Soldiers learn first aid, literacy skills and mathematics as well as gun drill and the computation of firing data.

The battery adopted several initiatives to improve its accuracy and timeliness of fire, and drastic results have been achieved with the collection of more accurate meteorological information, and a computerized method for computing data.

“Now I understand how the Canadian guns are capable of firing so quickly; our soldiers will be proud to be just as professional,” said Lt Nasarullah, the battery’s Executive Officer, during the first mission using the new fire­control software.

Taking new skills to the field

The 4/1/205 Artillery Battery has already demonstrated its operational readiness on several occasions. In December, it deployed a self­sufficient gun troop to Zhari District to support an ANA led brigade operation. During the operation, the battery responded to real­time calls for illumination and coordinated high­explosive show­of­force missions to coincide with infantry clearance tasks. The illumination missions were called for and adjusted by personnel from an ANA reconnaissance company.

In late January, a joint coalition­Afghan element operating in near Zangabad came under effective and sustained fire that endangered Afghan Uniformed Police (AUP), Afghan National Army and coalition forces alike. In response, a mentored ANA forward observation party called for fire from the 4/1/205 Artillery Battery. The combined weight of ANA and coalition indirect fire ended the contact, permitting a seriously wounded American police mentor to be brought to the helicopter landing site for extraction. Soldiers from the ANA forward observation party secured the northern flank of the landing site until the helicopter was clear.

The 4/1/205 Artillery Battery will continue to improve and do its part to support Afghan national security forces in their mission to realize a safe and secure Afghanistan. The Afghan gunners’ hard work and determination is sure to make them increasingly important in the provision of vital fire support to Afghan and coalition soldiers operating in the volatile Panjwayi and Zhari districts of Kandahar Province.

By Captain Brendan Insley, Artillery Mentor

Here's a December 2008 post at an American blog about the 205 Corps and the US advisory role:

Status Report From the Afghan South

Today’s Bloggers’ Roundtable [it is to dream - MC] was with Col. Paul Somersall, Regional Corps Advisory Command Commander. He heads the advisory teams for the Afghan 205 Corps, the “Hero” or Atl Corps. Col. Somersall is an upstate New Yorkers and a member of the New York Army National Guard.

The Afghan National Army’s 205 Corps has the responsibility for the provinces of Kandahar, Helmand, Zabul, Nimruz and Oruzgan. It consists of four brigades, a commando battalion and three garrisons. It is presently under the command of General Shermohammed Zazai. The Corps has integrated artillery and air lift capacity. The Corps also supports a regional medical hospital dedicated to the security forces ["corps" in the ANA context does not indicate the strength or composition of a unit, rather it simply designates the highest-level formation in the army, usually in charge of a region].

Col. Somersall’s command is advising the Corps down through the company level in all aspects of modern warfare, with emphasis on logistics and maintenance. The 205 Corps is in the heart of the fighting against the terrorists and their willingness to fight is not an issue. Intercepted Taliban communications, according to Somersall, warned against fighting one particular battalion newly equipped with the M-16 rifle since “they can kill us faster”.

Corps units are conducting their own resupply missions, by ground and air. Since August 2008 the Corps has moved over 90,000 tonnes of supplies using the MI-17 helicopters belonging to the Corps.

Col. Somersall repeated the gist of the statement that has been made by other American officers in Afghanistan, that if they had more, they could do more. Nimruz Provice, as an example, has no Afghan Army presence, only some police units. More Afghan troops, more NATO mentors, more funds for training and outreach to the civilian population, all of these items would prove valuable. The effects of the current programs are significant.

I asked the Col. about recruiting for the Army. He was quite emphatic that there is a demand to join the army among Afghans and stated that the Army is highly respected by the civilian populace.

The takeaway from this interview is the current ability of the 205 Corps and its units to plan and execute their own operations, whether combat or logistical. It is clear that the mentoring is being successful.