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International Security Assistance Force - ISAF

As of January 2009, Regional Command North was still operated by the German ISAF contigent alone. Regional Command East was controlled by forces from the United States. Regional Command South was led by a rotating command between Dutch, Canadian, and British forces, and the Dutch contigent was in control. Command of Regional Command West was controlled by the Italians. The capital region included the composite ISAF HQ, made up of members of all 41 contributing nations, as well as Regional Command Capital, responsible for ISAF operations in and around Kabul, was led by French forces. Forces in Regional Command North and West were primarily tasked with missions such as training the Afghan National Police and Army, and other reconstruction operations. Few forces in either region were engaged in direct or active combat with insurgent or terrorist forces, which had changed very little despite calls during 2007 and 2008 from nations with forces engaged in Afghanistan's southern and eastern regions, for restructing of these deployments. Germany, Italy, and Spain, the primary nations engaged in the northern and western provinces had strict restrictions on the deployment of their forces on combat missions.

The bulk of ISAF's forces remained deployed to Regional Command South and Regional Command East, where US, British, Dutch, and Canadian forces engaged in the majority of combat operations in the country, mainly along Afghanistan's southern border with Pakistan. US forces were deployed primarily in Regional Command East, with some forces in Regional Command South, both as part of ISAF, and part of the US Opeation Enduring Freedom. As part of plans to increase the US precense in the country an additional Brigade Combat Team, the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division was deployed in January 2009, taking up positions in Afghanistan's Wardak and Logar provinces. The 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team (Seperate) in the so-called "N2KL" Area of Operations had been replaced in late 2008 with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized). A portion of this element, the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, had been detached and assigned to Canadian Forces in Regional Command (South) as part of Combined Task Force Kandahar. The 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division in Jalalabad was to remain in country until April 2009.

The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which had deployed to Helmand Province to assist British and other ISAF forces, was replaced with a Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF), the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force - Afghanistan in November 2008. The SPMAGTF-A operated in support of both ISAF and Operation Enduring Freedom. The British, who had been supported by the 24th MEU, continued to operate in Regional Command (South). 3 Commando Brigade was the lead unit for the British task force. The Canadians under Operation Athena, in the middle of their 6th and 7th rotations in Afghanistan, were also in the region, along the combined Australian and Dutch Task Force in Uruzgan Province.

NOTES

* - Total ISAF and other force numbers potentially include overlapping rotations and other operational fluctuation.

** - The Air Task Force is headquartered at KAIA, but provides aircraft to dispresed locations throughtout the 5 Regional Commands.

*** - Operation Athena Rotation 7 was to begin a relief in place of Canadian Forces beginning in January 2009.

**** - The 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment is detached from the rest of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division Mechanized (Task Force Duke) in RC(E) and attached to Combined Task Force Kandahar, led by the Canadians in RC(S).