Servicemembers prepare for Afghan deployments

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Eric M. Grill
  • Air Force News Agency
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AFPN) --  Airmen, Sailors and Soldiers formed 12 Provincial Reconstruction Teams and are receiving training here as part of a 270-day rotation to Afghanistan in an effort to help rebuild the infrastructure and legitimize the Afghan government.

Each PRT, consisting of a main body of Airmen or Sailors and an Army security platoon, will deploy to different provinces within Afghanistan and will be self-sufficient to perform their civil affairs mission.

Of the 12 PRTs, six of them are led by Air Force officers with the other six led by Naval officers. 

"Once they get to Afghanistan, they'll have a myriad of tasks that they're responsible for," said Army Col. Harry Glenn, the commander of the 189th Infantry Brigade who is responsible for training not only Airmen, Sailors and Soldiers for potential combat in Afghanistan, but also Department of State workers, Department of Agriculture workers and their contractors who are part of the PRTs as well. 

"Primarily they'll be working reconstruction, so they will be committing U.S. and other donor-nation dollars to assist in the actual reconstruction of Afghanistan," he said. "The other aspect is they will be working heavily with their counterparts in the Afghan government particular in those provinces. So they'll handle engineering issues, governance issues, assist in law and order issues and really try to help and extend the capability of the Afghan government." 

Lt. Col. Daniel Moy is the commander of one of the PRTs. His team will deploy to the Paktya Province, which is historically, one of the most insurgent-active provinces. His PRT's mission is to be part of the counterinsurgency operations there.

"Counterinsurgency has an objective to separate the population from the insurgents," Colonel Moy said. "The population really is the center of gravity and we're there to convince those people who live in those villages that resisting the threats and intimidation of the insurgents is going to be worth their while."

Colonel Moy said he has a unique perspective of the PRT mission.

"I just came from three years at the Pentagon where I had a chance to work in the joint staff," Colonel Moy said. "I kind of watched the evolution of how the military was beginning to put more focus on the mission of the PRT. So the opportunity to come out here and actually be a part of that mission and be with troops going into a combat environment was something that I thought would be a great challenge and also very rewarding."

Through Combat Skills Training, team members learn about convoy operations, weapons, counter improvised explosive device tactics, language and cultural training, and combat lifesaving skills.

"As a commander, the safety of my people is one of my top priorities," Colonel Moy said. "I want to get us all home safe, and in order to do that, my folks here have to be challenged and the training has to be intense. They have to face dilemmas in the course of the training that help them think through how they're going to respond in a real situation and develop the muscle memory they're going to need to respond correctly. The training we're getting at Fort Bragg has been outstanding to help us develop those types of skills."

Learning how to operate in a combat environment is a key component of the training because none of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams are going to accomplish their mission by staying on a forward operating base, Colonel Glenn said.

"They need to get out. They have to move in the Afghan territory to go see the governor or go do quality assurance on engineering projects," he said. "So they learn the vital combat skills that they need to survive while they are in Afghanistan."

Realism plays an extensive part of this training, Colonel Glenn said.

"We are constantly using civilian (role players) on the battlefield to help put the Provincial Reconstruction Teams in situations that they will encounter in theater," he said. "We are constantly reinforcing that muscle memory; that rote memory that they require in these difficult situations. They continually reinforce those critical things -- shoot skills, movement skills, convoy skills and communication skills on how to communicate and operate in these up-armored Humvees ... so when they get in these situations in Afghanistan, they are ready to fight or ready to protect and defend themselves as required."

To keep the training as real as possible, Soldiers who have fought in Afghanistan recently are brought in to train the PRTs. The PRTs are also "forward deployed" on Fort Bragg ranges to give them that deployed environment feel.

'If I woke up here one morning and didn't know where I was, I would assume I was in Afghanistan," Colonel Moy said. "This (forward operating base) does a tremendous job of replicating the kinds of conditions that we'll be living in when we reach our forward operating base in Afghanistan. The living areas and the operations center that we have here give us the tools that we need to be able to really practice accurate training."

Colonel Glenn attributed teamwork to what makes the training here so real.

"I think what you're seeing here is something that is an undercurrent within the Department of Defense and the interagency that there is an incredible amount of teamwork that has come together to provide the type of training that you're seeing here right now," he said. "That's from the Air Force, that's from the Navy, from the interagency -- Department of State, U.S.D.A. and U.S. AID -- and then finally from our National Guard and our Reserve. It takes the entire team to pull this training together to produce effective Provincial Reconstructive Teams for Afghanistan."

The nearly three-month training at Fort Bragg culminates in October with a mission-readiness exercise where each of the PRTs will demonstrate all of the skills they've learned since arriving at Fort Bragg. Shortly after that, the Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors and civilians will deploy to Afghanistan for their 270-day mission.

Comment on this story (comments may be published on Air Force Link)

View the comments/letters page