Afghan trainers to get short boost By John Vandiver, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, May 7, 2010
STUTTGART, Germany — A battalion of U.S. soldiers is on the way to Afghanistan to help fill the gap in the number of trainers of Afghan security forces, but it’s only a temporary measure, military officials say.
With an overall requirement of 2,325 institutional trainers, the NATO training mission as of March 31 had a shortfall of 759 personnel, according to the Pentagon’s congressionally mandated Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan, released last week.
About 600 soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division will soon be on the ground in Afghanistan to serve a 90-day rotation, buying more time to win additional troop pledges from European allies, the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan confirmed. A total of 150 Marines, who also are serving a three-month rotation to train the Afghan forces, arrived last month.
"Somebody has to step forward. If nobody does this, the training doesn’t get done and we don’t accomplish our mission," Col. Gregory T. Breazile, a spokesman for the NATO training mission, said Thursday. "These are drastic measures. The Army and Marines have stepped up."
The 750 additional soldiers and Marines will work at various schools around Afghanistan, teaching Afghan National Army and police recruits fundamentals in patrolling, marksmanship and basic combat skills, Breazile said.
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