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New Gear for Afghan Commandos
by petty oFFicer FirSt cLaSS david vo t ro u b e K, uSnr
To a U.S. Soldier, the weapons
and equipment on any base in
Afghanistan would look familiar.
The difference is they are now in
the hands of Afghan soldiers. The
Afghan National Army’s (ANA’s)
1st Commando Kandak (Battalion)
has completed its training, and its
soldiers have received the same
equipment U.S. Soldiers use.
The field-issue items and personal
weapons used by the 1st
Commando Kandak are modeled
after a U.S. Army ranger battalion’s
organizational equipment. All six
of the ANA commando kandaks
will be equipped similarly, which
will make interoperability and standardized
training much easier.
U.S. weapons and equipment
were chosen for their reliability,
their obtainability, and the commando trainers’
familiarity with them. Quick procurement is
important because the ANA expects to have all six
of its commando kandaks equipped and trained by
September.
The kandak soldiers are being issued new weapons—including
M4 carbines, M240 machineguns, and
M249 squad automatic weapons—communications
equipment, clothing, sleeping gear, and field equipment.
The kandaks will even have portable kitchens
for cooking hot meals in the field.
With the assistance of the ANA leaders, the Combined
Security Transition Command-Afghanistan
(CSTC–A) identified what the commandos needed
and procured it. This took a tremendous amount of
coordination. The CSTC–A supplied the ANA from
its logistics and supply stocks, but many items needed
to be obtained quickly through U.S. Department of
Defense foreign military sales. It was truly a team
effort among CSTC–A’s mentors at Camp Morehead in
Kabul Province, contracting personnel, legal advisors,
comptrollers, and logistics personnel.
The security assistance office in CSTC–A’s CJ–4
logistics section worked behind the scenes to get new
equipment fielded. The CJ–4 staff spent many personal
hours researching and calling vendors to complete
purchases on time. By paying close attention to both
the needs and budget cycles, CJ–4 was able to obtain
12
Afghan National Army commandos train using
their new equipment that is based on U.S. Army
ranger equipment.
materiel in 2007 that would have not been funded until
2008 or 2009.
The Afghan commandos worked hard to make the
transition successful. They not only learned how to
use the new weapons and radios but also produced
almost 300 more trainees than anticipated. The commander
of the 1st Commando Kandak, Lieutenant
Colonel Mohammad Farid Ahmadi, believes that his
unit worked out supply and logistics issues that will
make it easier for the next kandak.
CSTC–A made history when the 1st Commando
Kandak graduated on 26 July 2007. It was the first
ANA unit to be completely trained and equipped with
U.S. gear, but it will not be the last. After six commando
kandaks are trained by CSTC–A, the ANA will
assume the mission of training commandos at Camp
Morehead. ALOG
petty officer firSt cLaSS DaviD vo t r o u b e K, uSnr,
iS a navy p h o t o J o u r n a L i S t aSSiGneD to t h e co Mb
i n e D Se c u r i t y tranSition co M M a n D-af G h a n i S t a n.
he h o L D S a b.a. D e G r e e in chriStian MiniStry f r o M
pu G e t So u n D chriStian coLLeGe a n D iS a G r a D u a t e
o f t h e navaL Sc h o o L o f ph o t o G r a p h y.
JULY–AUGUST 2008