Professional Military Education for the Afghan National Army

NATO and the United States are engaged in the revitalization of the military forces of Afghanistan. After the Russian invasion, the Taliban years and the civil war, one of the keys to restoring the national government was restoration of the military. The Afghan Army has a proud history, and a number of men who previously served have rejoined and provide the backbone of the new Army.

Maj. Gen. David Hogg, deputy commander-Army, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, recent talked to me and other bloggers about another important area in the ongoing growth of a professional Afghan Army, professional military education (PME). Modern armies such as that of the United States and Great Britain have a number of schools and courses that soldiers participate in from the time that they enter the service. There are academies such as West Point and Sandhurst. There are Ranger or Commando schools, schools to train non-commissioned officers and staff colleges where officers add to their knowledge and skills.

Hogg talked with us about what NATO is doing to establish a similar group of schools for the Afghan Army. The Afghan National Military Academy just graduated its first group of 212 officers. 49 of those were sent to the Afghan National Army Air Corps. The remaining new officers were assigned by specialty and then lot to the various Afghan Army units.

MG Hogg made it clear that the lottery process was integral to ensuring that no political influence tainted the assignment of the officers. The drawing was held publicly and many senior Afghan officers attended to show their support.

The new class at the four year Academy will consist of 640 men. Hogg told us that 40 medical students will leave after year one to go to medical school.

The General also reported that in April, NATO will partner with the Afghan Army to operate and officer candidate school for 42 Afghan women. This is a first, and the school will be taught by women, recognizing the cultural needs and local relationships between the sexes.

At the end of February, the Afghan Army Command and Staff College graduated 73 officers. General Hogg also advised that a non-commissioned officers academy and a sergeants major academy were functioning and graduating personnel.

The specialty schools, Hogg said, are being brought on line gradually. Armor, artillery, signal, military police, engineers and other specialties are now being trained, to introduce additional capability to the infantry heavy Afghan Army.

Another training effort discussed by the General was literacy. Most Afghan enlisted soldiers cannot read or write. Basic literacy skills, in Dari, are being pushed into the enlisted training programs, adding a week or more to those courses. The intention is that, at every level of training, the individual soldier will have more literacy training as well.

The Afghan National Army is building its professional military education capacity as it builds its numbers. PME will allow the Army to assume more and more of the security duties that NATO and United States troops now perform. The goal is to enable the Afghans to handle their own security needs in the next few years.