“It’s hard to break something that’s not built.” This statement made by Lt. Gen. William B. Caldwell, head of NATO Training Mission–Afghanistan (NTMA), is the summation of the Afghan Logistical Unit. The Army Times posted an article on the lack/ non-existence of Afghan supply, called "Army building Afghan logistics from 'scratch'".
1. Receive the Mission. Okay check Afghan logistics.
2. (Skip Warno) Make a Tentative Plan.
3. Initiate Movement.
4. Recon.
5.Complete the Plan.
6. Issue Order.
7. Supervise.
Now that we understand the problem, the most effort and concentration should be focused around making a plan structured for the "Afghan" army, not the United States Army. They live in a different setting, culture, and basic way of life than the structure of America, with less than 15% of the Afghan Army recruits being literate, the simplest tasks of logistics will seem near impossible. So it must be re-stated, "make a plan structured for the 'Afghan' army." The supervise part is also key because this will be a true learning experience for most. The basics of water and food distribution as well as fuel to Afghan units have only been implemented by the most senior Afghan soldiers having done so during the Soviet invasion.
It's also about starting early. One problem the Iraqi effort faced was the length it takes to rebuild a military's supply. An army is more than just people. You need items all the way from shoe laces to ammo to food to batteries. Simply giving the Afghan army the equipment and space is not the answer. Training the soldiers to understand the concepts of logistical time and inventory is the answer.
We are headed in the right direction in assisting build of Afghan logistics. Helping Afghan officers understand the negatives of hoarding, as well as teaching them the importance supply and consistent resupply, this all starts with getting rid of bad habits. Recently in 2009, the coalition has at least helped the new Afghan recruits read and write to at least the U.S. first grade level. Although it may not seem like much of a push towards education, at least they (Afghan enlisted) will know 1 + 1 = logistics.
We may supply a country (or a person for that matter) with all it needs; but if no one understands what good the supplies or infrastructure is for, then it’s useless. One of the issues we keep running into as we move from country to country is that we fail to understand the local culture and way of life. What good is building a unit of houses to improve a village’s life style when the village people refuse to live them? Its sounds preposterous that no one would want live in wonderful timber built home with a new roof, pluming, and electricity; but it does happen. When houses were built by coalition forces in Afghanistan for a village, no villager moved in. When one villager was asked why no one wanted to live the houses, he laughed and responded, “You should have asked us what to build the houses out of before you built them. We have a huge problem with termites in the area, and no one wants to leave their small stone house for a house made of timber with the potential of a horrid infestation.”
ReplyDeleteHow does this relate this Afghan logistical post? Well as this post mentioned, we can’t just simple give the Afghan army the equipment and space it needs, we must train them and aid them to become a self- SUSTAINING force as well. Sustainment is one of the key components in our class’s logistic model and without sustainment and redeployment the act of supplying is rather useless. Furthermore, we cannot build the Afghan police force, as we did houses, without asking them what key elements are important, or a hindrance, to the local culture and their way of life.
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