ANA recruits train during ISAF advised basic training cycle

News: ANA recruits train during ISAF advised basic training cycle

170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team

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Story by Sgt. Jazz Burney Subscribe To This Journalist

Spc. Jazz Burney

Afghan National Army recruits quickly shuffle toward their accountability formation during an eight-week, ISAF advised remote basic warrior training cycle at Camp Shaheen, Afghanistan, March 14. The RBWT is in keeping with the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan and will continue to assist in building the Afghan National Security Forces to maintain a secure environment for the country.

CAMP MIKE SPANN, Afghanistan- An Afghan National Army non-commissioned officer instructs his class of 100 Afghan Army recruits how to properly operate an M16 rifle, as a U.S. soldier stands quietly behind the formation.

More than 1,350 Afghan National Army recruits are learning to read and write, as well as conducting drill and ceremony, first aid, and weapons training during an eight-week, International Security Assistance Force advised remote basic warrior training cycle on Camp Shaheen, March 14.

Since mid-December, soldiers with 1st platoon, B Battery, 1st Battalion, 84th Field Artillery Regiment, 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team have served as assistant advisers during remote basic warrior training, or RBWT.

The Camp Shaheen course is one of several satellite programs from Kabul Military Training Center. B Battery advisers provide constructive feedback after ANA non-commissioned officers, or NCOs, teach classes to their soldiers. Although B Battery soldiers give advice on how to maximize training efforts, ANA NCOs remain in the forefront, instructing their troops.

“As the old adage goes, you can give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, but if you teach him how to catch fish you feed him for a lifetime. We want to teach and advise the ANA leaders to train up their own force without our presence,” said 1st Lt. Brandon Lee, an Aiea, Hawaii native, now a training adviser with B Battery.

Upon arrival, new Afghan Army recruits take a diagnostic literacy test and are placed in an ability group based on their scores. At the end of a training cycle, they take a final literacy test to prove their increased literacy levels. Ability group literacy training was recommended by ISAF to produce a better-rounded Soldier for the Afghan Army, said Lee.

“By learning how to read and write I will be literate and can better serve my country in our Army,” said Muhammed Amin, an ANA recruit.

RBWT is strikingly similar to the U.S. Army’s basic training in that ANA drill sergeants bark orders to Afghan recruits. They enforce personal hygiene and barracks living condition standards during a recruit’s training. The drill sergeants are mentored by U.S. Army NCOs who help sharpen their counterparts by pulling from their own military experiences. These empowered ANA NCOs, in turn, promote military discipline while providing instruction to their troops, said Sgt. 1st Class Ruben Ramirez, an El Paso, Texas native, now a senior drill sergeant combat adviser with Detachment 62, 95th Division, Kabul Military Training Center.

“We have received classes that lasted about 45 days that taught our leaders how to properly instruct our soldiers in using the M16 rifle. We have also been given the tools to instill the discipline and knowledge our soldiers need to protect their families and serve our country,” said ANA Sgt. 1st Class Hamidullah, the Company One head drill sergeant and instructor.

ANA leaders graduated more than 1,350 recruits during their first cycle and are currently training their second cycle with a similar projected success rate. Soldiers with B Battery are scheduled to assist during two additional ANA basic training cycles as the 170th IBCT deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom continues.