Ministry Advising in Afghanistan
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Ministry
Advising in Afghanistan
There has been a continous effort to advise and
assist the Afghan ministries ever since they were established in the early
2000s. This advisory effort has been hindered in part by the improper
selection of ministry level advisors, inadequate training of these
advisors, abbreviated deployment times of advisors (6 months in some
cases), incompetent senior level officers of the MoI and MoD, an
ineffective Afghan government, and massive corruption at all levels of the
Afghan army and police. Efforts to reduce the corruption and increase the
effectiveness of the MoI and MoD with tools such as
commitment
letters have thus far yielded less than satisfactory results.
Websites with Info on Ministry Advising
Ministry Level Advisors Community of Interest
(CoI) on JCISFA Portal
https://143.84.167.180/Members/Portal/MODA.aspx
Ministry of Defense Advisors Program (MoDA)
https://modaprogram.org/organization/ministry-defense-advisors-program
U.S. Army Security Assistance Training Management
Organization (USASATMO). The USA SATMO is located at Fort Bragg, NC and
conducts the Security Assistance Team Training Orientation Course
(SATTOC). The course info is available at
https://www.atrrs.army.mil/atrrscc/
ISAF, Security Force Assistance Guide 2.0,
January 2014. This guide, version 2, was published to assist SFA
advisors deploying to Afghanistan - to include those advisors who will be
working at the ministry level. The guide also has a number of Process Maps
invaluable to ministry level advisors. Learn more about the
Process Maps and the
SFA Guide 2.0.
Government and Military References about
Ministry Advising
2016
January 2016. DoDD 5205.82, Defense
Institution Building (DIB), Department of Defense Directive, January
27, 2016. Establishes policy, assigns responsibilities, and provides
direction regarding the planning, managment, and conduct of DIB by DoD;
and establishes the DIB Coordination Board.
www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/520582p.pdf
2015
February 2015. Building Partner Capacity: DoD
Should Improve its Reporting to Congress on Challenges to Expanding
Ministry of Defense Advisors Program, Government Accountability
Office (GAO). Posted on PKSOI website.
www.pksoi.org/ . . . BPC_MoDA_Reporting_11Feb2015 . . .
2014
March 24, 2014. "Government in a Box", Small
Wars Journal. A former Senior Advisor to the First Duputy Minister of
Defense in Afghanistan provides recommendations on the ministry-level
advisor effort.
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/government-in-a-box
January 2014. Security Force Assistance Guide
2.0, ISAF. This guide by ISAF contains information of value to
advisors who work at the ministerial level.
www.afghanwarnews.info/sfa/ISAF-SFA-Guide.htm
2012
October 23, 2012. Performance Framework and
Better Management of Resources Needed for the Ministry of Defense Advisors
Program, Inspector General United States Department of Defense,
Report No. DODIG-2013-005.
www.dodig.mil/pubs/documents/DODIG-2013-005.pdf
2011
May 2011. ISAF Afghan Ministry of Interior
Advisor Guide, Version 1.0. JCISFA.
https://jcisfa.jcs.mil/Public/Index.aspx
March 14, 2011. Afghan Ministry of Defense and
Afghan National Army General Staff Master Ministerial Development Plan,
CY 2013/SY 1392, Revised December 28, 2012. NTM-A/CSTC-A.
March 2011. "Ministerial Advisors: Developing
Capacity for an Endurring Security Force", Prism 2, No. 2., pages
135-144 by LTG William Caldwell, Dr. James A. Schear, and Frank C.
Digiovanni.
www.pksoi.org/document_repository/Lessons/MoDA_Prism_Schear-Caldwell-DiGiovanni_Mar_2011-LMS-712.pdf
2010
October 2010. Ministerial-Level Advisor
Training Effectiveness Study: Phase I Initial Impressions October 2010.
(U//FOUO), Joint Center for International Security Force Assistance
(JCISFA).
https://jcisfa.jcs.mil/Public/Index.aspx
2008
June 2008. United States Plan for Sustaining
the Afghanistan National Security Forces, DoD report to Congress in
accordance with the 2008 National Defense Authorization Act (Section 1231,
Public Law 110-181).
http://www.defense.gov/pubs/US_plan_for_sustaining_the_ANSF_1231.pdf
Papers, Articles, and Pubs about Advising
at the Ministry Level
Newton, Dr. Richard D, Defense Institution
Building . . . By Design, Joint Special Operations University Press
(JSOU), December 2019.
https://jsou.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=51643902
Putz, Catherine.
"SIGAR's Advice on Afghanistan Advisors: Please Track and Train",
The Diplomat. The Pentagon doesn't know how well its advisors are
advising in part because it keeps moving the goalposts.
SOF News, SIGAR Report on DoD Efforts to
Advise the Afghan MoD and MoI, October 31, 2018.
www.sof.news/afghanistan/sigar-report-on-advising-afghan-ministries/
Donnelly, Edward P., "New Rules for Advisers at
the Strategic and Institutional Levels", Small Wars Journal.
Eleven best practices identified for military advisors.
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/new-rules-for-advisers-at-the-strategic-and-institutional-levels
Chase, Michael B., "Our Own Worst Enemy",
Small Wars Journal, August 16, 2014. A former ministry-level advisor
to the MoD provides insight on advisor selection and "leverage" of money
to "help" Afghans accomplish MoD goals.
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/our-own-worst-enemy
Armstrong, Nicholas J. "Afghanistan 2014-2024:
Advising for Sustainability", Small Wars Journal, May 4, 2012.
http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/afghanistan-2014-2024-advising-for-sustainability
Armstrong, Nicholas J. A day Late and Many
Advisors Short: The Uncertain Future for Afghan Minsterial Development,
Security Sector Reform Resource Centre, December 17, 2012.
http://www.ssrresourcecentre.org/2012/12/17/a-day-late-and-many-advisors-short-the-uncertain-future-for-afghan-ministerial-development/
Friberg, John.
"Learning From Our Mistakes in Selection and Training of Military
Advisors", SOFREP. Two of the most important factors are
personnel selection and pre-deployment training.
Lubold, Gordon. Training U.S. Advisors,
Building Afghan Ministries. United States Institute of Peace (USIP),
April 7, 2011.
http://www.usip.org/publications/training-us-advisers-building-afghan-ministries
Metrinko, Michael J. The American Military
Advisor: Dealing with Senior Foreign Officials in the Islamic World,
Peacekeeping & Stablity Operations Institute, Carlisle, PA: 8 August 2008.
http://pksoi.army.mil/PKM/publications/papers/paperreview.cfm?paperID=1
Millen, Professor Raymond A.,
Professionalizing Ministerial Advising, United States Army War
College Press, Peacekeeping and Stability Operations Institute (PKSOI),
June 3, 2015.
www.pksoi.org/index.cfm?disp=cdrview.cfm&cdrid=1334
Bibliography for Resolute Support
Afghan War News has
compiled a "Resolute Support Annotated Bibliography" for the use of ISAF
staff and SFA advisors participating in the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
It is an Adobe Acrobat PDF, over 200 pages long, and less than 3 MBs
big. Click on the topic "Ministries" in the table of contents for info on
advising the Afghan security minitries. Easy to read online or download and it is available at the link
below:
www.afghanwarnews.info/pubs/RSM-Bibliography.htm
News Stories and Articles about Afghan
Ministry Advising
November 18, 2014.
"Future Resolute Support Members Train in Bydgoszcz". NATO. New
release provides information about the training for RS personnel at the
Joint Forces Training Center in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
April 18, 2011.
"Pentagon program has U.S. civilians advising Afghan ministries to improve
cooperation, security". The Washington Post. Ministry of
Defense Advisors (MoDA) is explained.
View an
online video about Functionally-based Security Force Assistance
http://youtu.be/DfwHQiKyxVs
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