Afghan National Army Special
Operations Command (ANASOC)

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The Afghan National Army Special Operations Command (ANASOC) mission is to organize, recruit, man, train, educate, equip and employ all Afghan National Army Special Operations Forces (ANASOF) in order to conduct counterinsurgency operations in support of GIRoA's national security strategy. ANASOC has its headquarters and principle training area at Camp Commando on the outskirts of Kabul. There are two SOF brigades and ten Special Operations Kandaks stationed across Afghanistan. The kandaks are composed of Afghan National Army Commandos and Afghan National Army Special Forces.

Command. ANASOC was a two-star command until August of 2017 when it became a corps-sized unit. Under the Afghan 4-year ANDSF plan Afghan SOF will double in size.  

Organization. As of August 2017 there were two Special Operations Brigades. There are ten Special Operations Kandaks (SOK); nine fall under the two SO brigades. The 6th SOK is the "national kandak" stationed in Kabul; however, in 2017 it was transferred under the control of the National Mission Brigade (NMB) - also an ANASOC unit.. Within ANASOC are also found a Military Intelligence Kandak and General Support Kandak. The School of Excellence located at Camp Commando (formerly known as Camp Morehead) is near Kabul and that is where the ANA Commandos and ANA Special Forces are trained. The Garrison Support Unit supports ANASOC headquarters.

Growth of ANASOC to Corps. The command will soon expand to be a corps-sized unit with the addition of two more Special Operations Brigades (SOBs). In addition, the National Mission Brigade may (or has) fall under the command of ANASOC. The staff and support structure of ANASOC will also grow in size. [1] General Besmiallah Waziri was assigned as the SOC corps commander in August 2017. [2]

National Mission Brigade (NMB). The National Mission Brigade was established in July 2017. The principal units within the NMB are the 6th SOK and Ktah Khas. Currently the status of the NMB is in flux; it may or may not fall under ANASOC.

Disposition. The 1st SOB kandaks are located in Kabul, Paktiya, Logar, Balkh, and Kunduz provinces. The 2nd SOB kandaks are located in Kandahar, Herat and Helmand provinces. The "national kandak" (6th SOK) is located in Kabul.

Composition. ANASOC has more than 11,000 soldiers assigned to various units. The ten SOKs have about 800 soldiers each - composed of units with ANA Commandos and ANA Special Forces. In the future, the Special Forces teams may be moved to the NMB.

Uniform. The ANA Commandos wear unique maroon berets while the ANA Special Forces wear unique tan berets. The different color berets distinguish the ANASOC soldiers from the conventional ANA soldiers.

Websites with Info on ANASOC

Blog Posts about ANASOC by Afghan War News Blog
http://afghanwarnews.blogspot.com/search/label/ANASOC

Afghan Special Forces Facebook
www.facebook.com/AfghanSpecialForce.SOF

Videos about ANASOC

February 15, 2018. Camp Commando Afghanistan, Resolute support. This 2-minute long video features a Slovakian Special Forces soldier training Afghan SOF at Camp Commando, Afghanistan.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Sp76xyuTBA

News Stories about ANASOC

April 28, 2018, "Afghanistan is building up its commando force to fight the Talban. But at what cost?", by Dan Lamothe, The Washington Post.

March 8, 2016. "These are the 11,000 soldiers who might save Afghanistan", The Washington Post. Tim Craig writes as detailed article about ANASOC and the Afghan commandos units. While the crack troops are very effective with a low turn-over rate there are problems with the infrastructure at Camp Moorehead - base of the commandos.

Endnotes

1. ANASOC grows to corps-sized unit: see "President Ghani: ANASOC is officially a corps", DVIDS, August 20, 2017. www.dvidshub.net/news/245379/president-ghani-anasoc-officially-corps. See also RS HQs news release.

2. Corps cdr assigned info from Afghanistan Times, August 20, 2017
http://afghanistantimes.af/special-operation-forces-division-promoted-to-corps-level/