Augments depart Iraq early to mentor Afghan Army

CAMP LEATHERNECK, AFGHANISTAN

04.11.2010

Story by Sgt. Heidi Agostini 

I Marine Expeditionary Force

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CAMP LEATHERNECK, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan — Ten Afghan national soldiers, armed with M-16's, lie in the prone position shooting downrange while their company commander barked orders for muzzle awareness.

Minutes later, a cease fire was called. A soldier attempted to stand up and accidentally pulled the trigger. Not even a second went by when the soldier found himself surrounded by his officers, accepting the repercussions of his careless mistake.

Closely monitoring the situation were Marines assigned to the embedded training team for newly activated 1st Kandak, 2nd Brigade, 215th Corps of the Afghan national army, based at Camp Leatherneck. The team is responsible for mentoring and training the Afghan army to function on their own, to take over security in Helmand province. The mentoring group, comprised of active and reserve duty Marines from 3rd Battalion, 24th Marines and Combat Logistics Battalion 46, was sent from their deployment in Al Asad, Iraq to Afghanistan to help form part of the new ANA Corps. The Marines filled a critical gap on short notice with 13 Marines with varying military occupational specialties.

Some of the Marines mentored the Afghan battalion in fields outside their military occupational specialty. KC-130 pilot, Capt. Eric Brown, officer-in-charge of the mentoring team, fulfilled a spot meant for a combat arms major. Prior to landing in Afghanistan, Brown was the forward air controller for 3/24. Lance Cpl. Daniel Gierling fulfilled the job of two captains. Although an intelligence specialist by trade, Gierling was tasked to train the entire kandak on communications as well.

"It wasn't easy," smiled Gierling. "Most of the Afghan soldiers are illiterate and they don't all speak just one language. So I had to figure out how I was going to teach them using translators. I had the interpreters relay everything I said to the class, but it was time consuming. Some of the soldiers spoke languages that my interpreters didn't know."

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Brian Sheppard, who originally deployed to Iraq as an individual augment assigned to the detention center, was transferred to Afghanistan to serve as the mentoring team operations and executive officer.

"Gierling did a phenomenal job," said Sheppard. "He had about five different languages present in his class and yet he still managed to successfully accomplish what he was tasked to do."

The team was armed with infantrymen from 3/24 and proved to be invaluable to the mission.

Using mostly hands-on practical application to train the soldiers, the Marines structured the kandak to mirror the Army and Marine Corps.

"We taught them how to operate as an infantry battalion with the numbers they had," said Sheppard. "We tried to train them to shoot, move and communicate."

The task wasn't easy for the Marines. The ratio between Marines and the men they mentored was 50-to-1. The team would stay up late after training to plan where each Marine and interpreter would be at the following day.

"It was very challenging," said Brown. "We had to plan which company was going to do what, and which Marine and interpreter would be best for that mission. Sometimes I had one Marine for three companies, and sometimes I had one Marine per company."

Their days were long, filled with frustration and challenges but were equally rewarding. The largest challenge the Marines faced was the language barrier. Armed with five interpreters who had never spoken to Americans before, the mentoring team had to clean up their English.

Phrases such as "let's rehash this morning's lessons," and "pick up your trash," could not be translated because the interpreters didn't understand military vernacular.

"Any time I say something to the interpreter, he has to translate that to the soldiers, and that takes up time," said Brown. "It could take ten minutes to have a one minute conversation."

Brown believes the reason his team was successful is because they agreed early on they were not going to fix problems the Afghan soldiers had. They were going to train whichever soldiers showed up whenever they showed up. Choosing not to get wrapped up around the axle, the Marines did their best to maintain composure amidst the frustrations of negligent discharges, soldiers who would go on unauthorized absence, and no sense of time. A large amount of their success is invested in personal relationships with the Afghans.

"We learned that they are their own country, their own army," said Brown. "They have their own customs so we can't impose our own on them. We give our heart and soul to this job and they can see it. We were never the limiting factor, and the soldiers sensed that."

Maj. M. Yasin, an Afghan soldier with 22 years of military experience, appreciates the mentor's patience and said the respect is mutual. Although he would like to see more Marines on the team, Yasin said he is grateful for the mentors. Fellow Afghan officer, Maj. Jawed Alkozay, is content with the training and mentoring. He is receptive to his trainers and hopes his soldiers are successful on the battlefield.

The battalion will soon be evaluated on their performance. Once the soldiers are certified they will join Regimental Combat Team 2 and be partnered with Marine combat units.