The Official Website of the
Afghan National Army

Contents
Afghan National Army

Emblem of the Afghan National Army.
Active

1880s — Present
Country

Afghanistan
Role

Domestic Defense
Size

46,000 troops active (April 2007)
Commanders

Chief of Staff

General Bismillah Khan
 

Afghan National Army (ANA) is the army of Afghanistan that is being trained by the coalition forces to ultimately take the lead in land-based military operations. Since 2001, the United States has provided more than $2 billion worth military equipment and facilities to Afghanistan. Another further $2 billion worth military aid was announced in 2006 and will be delivered in 2007, which will include 2,500 Humvees, tens of thousands of M-16 assault rifles and body armored jackets. It will also include the building of a national military command center. To thwart and dissolve localized militias, the Afghan government has offered cash and vocational training to encourage members to join the ANA.

 

 

Training

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afghan National Army soldier providing security during a patrol in Paktika province.

 

Different members of the Coalition in Afghanistan have undertaken different responsibilities in the creation of the ANA. All these various efforts are managed on the Coalition side by Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan (CSTC-A), a two-star level multi-national command headquartered in downtown Kabul. On the ANA side, as of July 2006 all training and education in the Army is managed and implemented by the newly-formed Afghan National Army Training Command (ANATC), a two-star command which reports directly to the Chief of the General Staff. All training centers and military schools are under ANATC HQ.

Individual basic training is conducted primarily by Afghan National Army instructors and staff at ANATC's Kabul Military Training Center, situated on the eastern edge of the capital. The ANA are still supported, however, with various levels of CSTC-A oversight, mentorship, and assistance. The US assists in the basic and advanced training of enlisted recruits, and also runs the Drill Instructor School which produces new training NCOs for the basic training courses. A French Army advisory team oversees the training of officers for staff and platoon or company command in a combined commissioning/infantry officer training unit called the Officer Training Brigade, also located at the Kabul Military Training Center. OTB candidates in the Platoon and Company Command courses are usually older former militia and mujaheddin 'officers' with various levels of military experience. The United Kingdom also conducts initial infantry officer training and commissioning at the Officer Candidate School. While OCS is administratively under OTB's control, it is kept functionally separate. OCS candidates are young men with little or no military experience. The British Army also conduct initial and advanced Non-Commissioned Officer training as well in a separate NCO Training Brigade. The Canadian Forces Land Force Command (the Canadian Army) supervises the Combined Training Exercise portion of initial military training, where trainee soldiers, NCOs, and officers are brought together in field training exercises at the platoon, company and (theoretically) battalion levels to certify them ready for field operations. In the Regional Corps, line ANA battalions have attached Coalition Embedded Training Teams that continue to mentor the battalion's leadership, and advise in the areas of intelligence, communications, fire support, logistics and infantry tactics.

Formal education and professional development is currently conducted at two main ANATC schools, both in Kabul. The National Military Academy of Afghanistan, located near the Kabul International Airport, is a four-year military university, which will produce degreed second lieutenants in a variety of military professions. NMAA's first cadet class entered its second academic year in spring 2006. A contingent of U.S. and Turkish Army military instructors jointly mentor the NMAA faculty and staff. The Command and General Staff College, located in south Kabul, prepares mid-level ANA officers to serve on brigade and corps staffs. France established the CGSC in early 2004, and a cadre of French Army instructors continues to oversee operations at the school. A National Defence University will also be established at a potential site in northwest Kabul. Eventually all initial officer training (to include the NMAA) as well as the CGSC will be re-located to the new NDU facility.

 

 

History

Afghan National Army soldiers driving in a military pick-up truck.
 
Afghan National Army soldiers driving in a military pick-up truck.

Upon becoming president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai set a goal of an army of 70,000 men by 2009. By January, 2003 just over 1,700 soldiers in five kandaks (Pashtun for battalion) had completed the 10-week training course, and by June 2003 a total of 4,000 troops had been trained. Initial recruiting problems lay in the lack of cooperation from regional warlords and inconsistent international support. The problem of desertion dogged the force in its early days: in the summer of 2003, the desertion rate was estimated to be ten percent and in mid-March, 2004 estimate suggested that 3,000 soldiers had deserted.

Soldiers in the new army initially received $30 a month during training and $50 a month upon graduation, though pay for trained soldiers has since risen to $120. Some recruits were under 18 years of age and many could not read or write. Recruits who spoke only Pashto experienced difficulty because instruction was given through interpreters who spoke Farsi.

Growth continued, however, and the ANA had expanded to 5,000 trained soldiers by July of 2003. That month, approximately 1,000 ANA soldiers were deployed in the U.S-led Operation Warrior Sweep, marking the first major combat operation for Afghan troops.

Troop levels

Soldiers

As of
1,750 March 2003
6,000 September 29, 2003
6,000 January 22, 2004
7,000 February 2004
8,300, plus 2,500 in training April 30, 2004
12,360 June 29, 2004
13,000 August 2004
13,500, plus 3,000 in training September 13, 2004
13,000 December 2004
17,800, plus 3,400 in training January 10, 2005
26,000, plus 4,000 in training September 16, 2005
26,900 January 31, 2006
36,000 January 10-22, 2007
46,177 April 12, 2007

 

 

Current status

Afghan National Army on parade, 2006.
 
Afghan National Army on parade, 2006.

The problems of desertion and difficult recruitment are recurring problems. Total manpower is at around 46,000 personnel and 3,000 new personnel are being recruited each month. Facilities and capacity planning efforts are rapidly adjusting to significant increases in national recruiting efforts to meet manpower needs.

The basic unit in the Afghan National Army is the Battalion or Kandak, consisting of 600 troops. Although the vast majority is infantry, at least one mechanized and one tank Battalion have been formed; more may be planned. An elite special forces unit modelled on the U.S Army Rangers is also being formed. Plans are for it to include 3,900 men in six battalions under French and U.S tutelege. Every ANA Corps will be assigned a commando battalion with the sixth designated as a special national unit under the Afghan defense ministry's purview.

As of September 2005, 28 of the 31 Afghan National Army Battalions were ready for combat operations and many had already participated in them. At least nine brigades are planned at this time, each consisting of six battalions. By March 1, 2007 half of the planned army of 70,000 ANA soldiers has been achieved with 46 Afghan battalions operating in the fore or in concert with NATO forces. A total of 14 brigades that will primarily be regionally oriented are planned for 2008.

Five Corps exist, serving as regional commands for the ANA: the 201st Corps based in Kabul, the 203rd Corps based in Gardez, the 205th Corps based in Kandahar, the 207th Corps in Herat, and the 209th Corps in Mazar-e-Sharif. Each of the four outlying Corps will be assigned one brigade with the majority of the manpower of the army based in Kabul's 201st Corps.

 

 

Operations

The Afghan National Army and Pakistani troops exchanged fire in the Kudakhel area of Mohmand Agency on 02 March 2007. Afghan army fired rockets on a Pakistani army border post in the Kudakhel area. In another incident a border clash erupted between Afghan soldiers and Pakistani troops, who overnight took some areas in a border region of Paktika province.

The army caught the senior Taliban leader Mullah Mahmood near Khandahar, who was wearing a Burkha. Mahmood is suspected of organizing suicide attacks in Kandahar Province. More than fourty nine Taliban soliders were killed by the Afghan forces in one of the independent operations carried out by the Afghan forces.

In a rescue operation, the Afghan National Army deployed their Mi-8 helicopters and evacuated flood victims in the Ghorban district of Parwan province. Afghan soldiers safely evacuated 383 families to safer places.

 

 

Operation Achilles

The Afghan National Army along with the ISAF successfully engaged Taliban extremist strongholds. This operation was launched on 6 March 2007 to stabilize the Northern Helmand province for the government to start the reconstruction work.

 

 

Current Equipment

Small Arms

 
Soldiers assigned to the 1st Afghanistan National Army (ANA) Armored Battalion, stand in formation with their T-62 Main Battle Tanks during their graduation ceremony held at Polycharky, Afghanistan. Soldiers assigned to the 1st Afghanistan National Army (ANA) Armored Battalion, stand in formation with their T-62 Main Battle Tanks during their graduation ceremony held at Polycharky, Afghanistan.

BMP-1 of the Afghan National Army. BMP-1 of the Afghan National Army.

Tanks

Armoured Vehicles(800+)

Other Vehicles

Heavy Arms

 

 

Senior Officers

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