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Military

United States Plan for Sustaining the Afghanistan National Security Forces


June 2008
Report to Congress iIn accordance with the
2008 National Defense Authorization Act
(Section 1231, Public Law 110-181)

 

Section 3: Afghan National Police

3.1 Programmed ANP End State

The Department of Defense assumed responsibility for the development of the ANP in April 2005. Efforts prior to this time were not comprehensive and lacked both resources and unity of effort within the international community. CSTC-A’s current efforts focus on key reforms within the MoI, greater unity of effort within the international community, and continued individual training and mentoring with the support of the INL.

The target for the ANP is to build and reform 82,000 personnel that are capable of operating countrywide. The ANP consists of Afghan Uniform Police (AUP), the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP), the Afghan Border Police (ABP), the Counter-Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA), and additional specialized police including criminal investigation, counter-terrorism, and customs. The roles of the various police services span a wide spectrum of policing, law enforcement, and security functions:

    • The AUP serve at the regional, provincial, and district levels, they focus on patrols, crime prevention, traffic, and general policing. They are meant to spread the rule of law throughout the country and provide a response capability for local security incidents.

    • The ANCOP is a highly skilled, specialized police force, split into rural and urban units, trained and equipped to counter civil unrest and lawlessness. ANCOP units provide law enforcement and civil control, conduct operations in areas where government control may be weak, and support counterinsurgency operations. Eight of the planned 20 ANCOP battalions are currently operating. They are performing exceptionally well, both in their support of FDD, and in their primary role as the national quick reaction force in troubled areas. ANCOP battalions are formed as units and receive 16 weeks of institutional training followed by another eight weeks of Police Mentor Team (PMT)-supervised collective training. All reports on this new national police force indicate solid performance through its operations to dismantle illegal checkpoints, seize illegal weapons, and retake lost districts. ANCOP has successfully conducted counterinsurgency operations and secured the trust and confidence of the people.

    • The ABP provides broad law enforcement capabilities at borders and entry points in order to deter illegal entry and other criminal activity.

    • The CNPA is the lead agency charged with reducing narcotics production and distribution in Afghanistan.

Once assessments can be made on the effects of recently begun reform efforts, the ANP strength should be reassessed to determine if additional police forces are required. However, at this point in time, a lack of U.S. military trainers and mentors available for Police Mentor Teams precludes the acceleration or expansion of reform and mentoring efforts beyond the 25 percent of the ANP that is presently covered. Current PMT coverage is focused on the AUP who are closest to the population and are, therefore, the most immediate face of the Afghan government.

The auxiliary police are a temporary force of 9,000 officers, hired in 21 provinces, intended to augment the AUP. The auxiliary police will cease to exist by the end of 2008; those members that have served for at least one year, undergone five weeks of training, and receive a recommendation from their district chief will transition to the AUP. Those that do not meet these requirements will be released from service by September 30, 2008.

3.2 Training Efforts

3.2.1 Initial and Field Training

Currently, the ANP has fielded 92 percent of its forces, but it lags behind the ANA in capability. Police development has been hindered by a lack of reform, corruption, insufficient trainers and advisors, and a lack of unity of effort within the international community, among other things.

Unlike the ANA, police are not fielded as units. All policemen must be trained as individuals. The objective for ANP individual training is to require initial entry training (IET) for all accessions. However, current training capacity cannot meet demand, and many untrained policemen remain in the force. Efforts to expand the training capacity to meet demand should make it feasible to require IET for all police recruits in approximately three years. Currently, individual training is conducted at seven RTCs, a Central Training Center, and the Kabul Police Academy. Concurrently, CSTC-A and INL are developing a National Police Training Center (NPTC), which will achieve initial operating capability in 2008. This center will have an eventual training capacity of 2,000 policemen per year. Once the NPTC is complete (estimated for late 2010), it will be feasible to require all new policemen to attend IET prior to assumption of any duties. INL contracts to assist in individual police program training design, instructional implementation, and mentoring. More than 500 qualified civilian police advisors serve as training developers and instructors at the RTCs and Central Training Center, and as mentors at regional, provincial, and district locations. These civilian police mentors provide the civilian police expertise to augment the approximately 1,000 military mentors focused on police development.

The chart below is an overview of the police courses offered by the U.S. program. All ANP go through the basic course, with the exception of the auxiliary police. In addition to the core courses outlined below, advanced and specialized courses are provided for instructor development, field training, tactical training, medic training, and trainer training courses for investigative techniques, weapons proficiency, communications, and ethics.


The ANP training program, while recognizing that policemen do not operate in “units” as the ANA does, seeks to build cohesive, effective police organizations. The goal is to provide a mentor team to each police district, each provincial and regional headquarters, each ABP company and battalion, and each ANCOP company and battalion. However, the shortage of Police Mentor Teams affects CSTC-A’s ability to increase and improve ANP training and mentoring. Each PMT is composed of mostly military members that provide training support, maintenance, logistics, and administrative coaching; encourage professionalism; and serve as liaisons with international forces as required. Each team ideally includes two civilian police mentors (provided by INL contract) that provide civilian police training expertise and advice. Due to the security situation, field-based police training is most often provided by military personnel with civilian or military police experience; RTC-based training is provided by civilian police trainers. Every PMT has a security force. There is no area of Afghanistan that permits independent mentorship by civilian police or very small PMTs. With 365 districts, 46 city police precincts, 34 provinces, five regions, 20 ANCOP battalions, 33 ABP battalions, and 135 ABP companies, CSTC-A is currently able to cover no more than one fourth of all ANP organizations and units with PMTs. Security is not only an issue for mentoring and training personnel. ANP officers perform hazardous duty. In many instances, the ANP experience significantly higher casualty rates when conducting counterinsurgency operations than do the ANA. The dedication and perseverance of individual police officers to fighting the insurgency and enforcing the laws of their country is commendable.

3.2.2 Focused District Development (FDD) Program

CSTC-A, in a coordinated effort with the GIRoA, the U.S. Embassy, NATO-ISAF and the international community, has recently implemented the Focused District Development (FDD) program to train, reconstitute, mentor and develop the AUP on a district by district basis. As the primary government interface with the Afghan people, an effective AUP is critical to the extension of the rule of law and to building trust in the institution of the police among the general populace. Accordingly, FDD concentrates resources on the district-level AUP. A reformed, more effective police force that can improve security in an area can facilitate the realization of other desired outcomes. It will take several years to reform the 45,000-person AUP and 18,000 ABP.

The first phase of FDD is an assessment of the district by a District Assessment and Reform Team, composed of a PMT, several representatives of the MoI and other Afghan government ministries, and, in some cases, other international partners (currently Canada and the United Kingdom). This assessment leads to selection and vetting of new leaders as required, recruiting to full authorization, and equipment inventories, as well as assessments of facilities, rule of law status, relationships with local leaders, and overall professional effectiveness. In the second phase, an ANCOP unit is deployed to the district to relieve the local AUP forces which then report to the RTCs to begin eight weeks of reconstitution (the third phase). The reconstitution period includes three different levels of training (i.e., new entrants, advanced, and officer leader and management training), biometric processing and identification card issue, pay records establishment, full equipping, leader reinforcement training, and continual ethics reinforcement. The AUP participating in the RTC training programs receive daily mentorship from PMTs. Upon completion of the TRC training phase, the PMT returns with the reformed police to continue collective training and mentoring in the district, ensuring the police put into practice the key individual and collective competencies as well as the ethical standards learned during training at the RTC. At the conclusion of this phase, which is proficiency-driven rather than time-driven, the district is validated as a reformed police force, using the same objective assessment checklist that was used in the preliminary assessment phase. The PMT then goes into an overwatch mode to ensure the district police retain the ethic and skills they have learned.

The first cycle, which began in seven districts in late 2007, is nearing completion with district ANP reinserted in their districts and undergoing intensive mentoring. As of April 2008, the second cycle of FDD was mid-course in five districts, with district ANP undergoing reconstitution at the RTCs. The third cycle, being implemented in nine districts, was in the initial assessment phase. Three additional cycles of FDD are planned for 2008.

Current challenges facing the FDD program include shortages of PMTs, shortages of trained ANCOP units (currently a growing program), limited space availability at the RTCs (which will be alleviated by construction of the NPTC), lack of provincial governor support (due to the perceived loss of power as the AUP become loyal to the nation, as well their loss as a source of revenue for the governor from illegal checkpoints and graft). We anticipate that over the course of 2008, these challenges will lessen with the training of additional ANCOP units, the construction of the NPTC, and the ability of FDD-reformed districts to strengthen ties with district governance and populations.

The FDD initiative is focused nation-wide and is linked and complementary to ongoing ISAF operations. It is aimed at focusing limited resources to maximize the overall development of the AUP, ultimately creating communities able to sustain stability in the long term. The initial popular perception of the FDD program is favorable, and the national government views the FDD as a catalyst for similar programs that might benefit other governmental branches.

3.3 Equipment

The ANP is equipped with light weapons, including AK-47s and 9mm pistols. Most police elements also have light machine guns. The Afghan Border Police (ABP) will be provided heavy machine guns later in 2008, in recognition of the higher level of operations they encounter on the borders. ANCOP units also will be provided heavy machine guns. There is no intent to provide the ANP with NATO weapons. Former Warsaw Pact weapons are provided through donations or through U.S. funded purchase. Specialty organizations, such as the CNPA and counter-terrorism police, receive unique equipment consistent with their mission.

The ANP is provided Ford Rangers as LTVs and International Harvesters as Medium Tactical Vehicles (MTVs). The ANCOP is currently fielded with LTVs and MTVs, but these will be replaced with armored HMMWVs or a similar vehicle in 2008.

Police are equipped with a variety of communications equipment. They currently face an interoperability challenge because of the wide variety of communications equipment provided by the previous lead nation for the ANP. The U.S. Government has procured a common set of NATO-interoperable communication equipment to field the ANP completely, and will complete fielding during the coming year.

3.4 Readiness and Assessment Tools

The MoI Readiness Reporting System (RRS) is being re-worked to produce timely and accurate readiness system reports, provide actionable readiness data, and provide an executive level brief. The revised RRS should enable the MoI and ANP to conduct analysis of readiness data that will recognize shortfalls and allow MoI and ANP leadership to make corrective actions. Without the full complement of PMTs, however, a comprehensive assessment of the ANP will not be possible.

3.5 Building and Sustaining the Officer Corps

Overall, most MoI senior leaders are currently assessed as capable of performing their functions and duties with limited assistance (CM2), although others are less capable and require more assistance (CM3). The capacity of lower-level leaders and their loyalty to national police organizations are questionable. The lack of full implementation of approved organizational authorization documents and incomplete rank reform hinder progress toward leader professionalism. Assessment and reform are being addressed at the district level through the FDD program.

Professional training and development at the national level is a new concept within the various ANP organizations. However, this situation is changing because of MoI involvement in the management of the FDD program, the continuation of the Kabul Police Academy, and a common eight-week leader and management course that all new officers must attend. Each training program provides objective and standardized training to ensure a greater degree of professionalism within the police forces. Additionally, an in-service training program is being implemented in each district and will eventually expand to all of the police forces to sustain training proficiency. Selected officers in each district and unit attend an instructor development course in subjects such as ethics and professional behavior, medical, communications, investigative techniques, and weapons. These officers then become the sustainment trainers in their districts and units. We expect that this program will be fully implemented in 2008.

We are also seeing improvements in the establishment of a professional NCO corps in the ANP. This development is critical to the success of the police, as only officers and NCOs have arrest authority, largely due low rates of literacy among patrolmen. Approximately 1,300 police NCOs will graduate from the Kabul Police Academy in 2008. Recently, more than 200 academy graduates were assigned to the districts outside Kabul that are going through FDD. We expect this to continue in 2008. Additionally, an advanced course targeted to NCOs was added to the curriculum for police training. Simultaneously, we are implementing literacy programs in the MoI to increase the literacy level of all policemen.

3.6 Merit-based Rank, Promotions, and Salary Reform

The MoI has taken substantial steps toward establishing fair and equitable compensation and recognition across the ANP. It began with rank reform, which sought to evaluate and stratify ANP personnel to ensure that each member was provided the opportunity to be objectively compared to their counterparts. Rank reform looked at the top 18,000 officers within a top-heavy structure and, through an international vetting process, reduced the officer corps by more than 9,000 officers. In addition to rank reform, pay reform provided for a more adequate pay scale, and pay parity provided the police with pay equal to that of the ANA. Other initiatives, including the development of comprehensive promotion and recognition programs, are underway, and written guidance regarding these initiatives is under review by the MoI for implementation.

3.7 Mechanisms for Incorporating Lessons Learned and Best Practices

The build-up of additional mentors at the NPCC and other staff agencies will result in more opportunities to mentor Afghans on proper operational and administrative functions. To date, shortfalls in mentor manning has resulted in missed opportunities to identify all actions needing correction or mentoring.

Lessons learned from the FDD process are captured via After Action Reviews (AARs). Training and mentor teams complete AARs and route them back through FDD program implementers, to be used to continually update the training programs as required. This process ensures lessons learned are efficiently applied to future FDD cycles and instruction blocks. This feedback is shared through the mentor chain and with the MoI and ANP leadership to improve the Afghan police beyond those areas that can be touched by FDD.

3.8 Oversight Mechanisms

3.8.1 Personnel

3.8.1.1 Recruiting and Retention

From March 24, 2007 through March 2, 2008, the nationwide recruiting number for all police programs was 17,474 (4,795 ABP, 1,414 ANCOP, and 11,265 AUP and specialty police).

3.8.1.2 Accountability

In general, accountability for the ANP has been a significant challenge. The Identification Card Program is a major step towards addressing the problem. This program maintains photographic and biometric records of all registered police. The end state of the program is an identification card that will incorporate equipment issue, pay, promotion, and tracking from accession to attrition using an accurate record management system. Current efforts include use of the identification card barcode system to pay ANP personnel. Identification cards will allow tracking of all ANP officers as well as their pay, providing accurate strength numbers and ensuring that officers receive their full pay.

CSTC-A has proposed a draft ANP strength accountability regulation that incorporates all 11 of the current ANP strength tracking documents as well as adding a Unit Manning Roster (UMR) to track policemen by their position of work, including the data collected during the initial the initial recruitment and vetting process. The database will then be linked to the ANP Identification Card database and a finance database. The UMR should eliminate the possibility of “ghost” employees since every position will either be vacant or have a name attached to it. These reforms will facilitate personnel complaints because it will show exactly where the complainant is located, and it will be easier to find his or her chain of command and records and resolve the issue. In addition, all ANP personnel have the ability to call the hotline mentioned above to request assistance, and the MoI IA is working to add a block of instruction on this subject to the FDD program.

CSTC-A mentors are working with the MoI Legal Advisor to provide disciplinary instruction for the ANP. This instruction will be executed and implemented under the Minister of the Interior’s signature and will provide for the administrative discipline of police personnel through the reduction in rank, pay forfeitures, and transfers. However, developing the capacity to implement the program will be challenging.

Despite having 11 police prosecutors assigned to MoI headquarters, police corruption and misconduct remain a challenge. Effective administrative internal controls within the ANP are hampered in part due to the law itself and a lack of capacity and will to execute that law. Firing a patrolman requires a criminal conviction or a Presidential decree. CSTC-A is currently working with the MoI on redrafting the personnel regulation that governs MoI employees, specifically, the ANP. These efforts are aimed at empowering lower-level officials to make removal decisions while providing sufficient administrative due process to the employee subject to termination. Regional IA units have been included in the 2008 Tashkil (authorization document) in five of the six police regions (Kabul is not included due to the presence of the national headquarters).

The Minister of Interior has commissioned a legislative drafting committee to revise the “Inherent” (or police personnel) Law, by consolidating three outdated laws that apply to the AUP. The drafting committee includes representatives from CSTC-A and the international community. Although the new law may not be passed for some time, the goal is to ensure that it provides for the administrative separation of corrupt or inept police officers. This change likely will require either an advisory opinion from the Supreme Court or a Presidential delegation of authority (the Afghan Constitution grants only the President the authority to fire police).

Additionally, CSTC-A ANP legal mentors have focused on using the police court and the police prosecutor to bring criminal cases against police officers for misconduct that amounts to a crime. Again, these efforts have not yet shown results. A policy on drug use is under development. Though the drug use policy is not yet implemented police officers known to use drugs are removed from the force. In 2007 during the FDD cycle, 29 policemen (out of 650) were identified as drug users, immediately removed from the program, and released from the police force.

3.8.2 Equipment

A Stock Record Account (SRA) is used to maintain oversight of ANP equipment. The ANP SRA has been used at the MoI Interim Logistics Facility (ILF) since 2006 to track and document equipment receipt, inventory, and issues. The SRA from the ILF provides the details of all munitions, vehicles, clothing and individual equipment items. The MoI Technical Department maintains a manual property book to track equipment damaged in combat.



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