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Report | March 22, 2013

Assessment of U.S. Government and Coalition Efforts to Develop the Afghan National Army Command, Control, and Coordination System

DODIG-2013-058

What We Did

We looked at the current status of Afghan command and control development and whether the Department of Defense would complete the development of the Afghan National Security Forces Command and Control System by 2014. The specific focus was on the Afghan National Army (ANA). Sub-objectives included:

  • Assess whether U.S. and Coalition strategy, guidance, plans, and available resources are sufficient to create an effective Afghan Command and Control (C2) System.
  • Determine the status of C2 development in accordance with U.S. plans for withdrawal of combat forces by 2014.
  • Assess the ANA coordination mechanisms, including Operation Coordination Centers.

What We Found

The DOD IG summary analysis and finding determined that U.S. efforts to develop an effective ANA command, control, and coordination system have yielded a foundational C2 capability. The extensive and on-going U.S. and Coalition effort to develop security sector capacity in Afghanistan had produced a marginally sufficient ANA Command and Control System that was adequately resilient, coherent and capable of transitioning to Afghan lead in plans and operations by 2014. However, the capacity for sustained continuity of an effective ANA C2 system was fragile and remained highly dependent upon required ISAF enablers and secondarily, upon external factors that could diminish the effectiveness of its foundational C2 capacity.

  • ISAF enablers are those capabilities that are force multipliers permitting successful combat operations. Required enablers after 2014 are still being identified, but will include intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities (ISR) with an analysis capability, counter-IED technology and mine clearance assets, (indirect and aerial) fires capability, ground and air mobility, and logistics sustainment.
  • External factors that may impact upon the ANA command and control system included the need to improve upon:
    • internal Afghan governance capacity at the province and district level,
    • recurring border issues with Pakistan,
    • minimizing corruption,
    • reliance upon the Afghan National Police for local security, and ensuring a means to pay police and soldiers.

What We Recommend

The report provided 8 observations and 18 recommendations to Commander, ISAF and its subordinate commands:

  • International Joint Force Assistance Command (IJC),
  • North Atlantic Treaty Organizations (NATO) Training Mission (NTM-A), and
  • North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Air Training Command (NATC-A).

This report is a result of Project No. D2012-D00SPO-0085.000.