ANA outlines mission cycle plan to improve troop quality, reduce desertion

The Afghan National Army (ANA) is moving to a campaign plan that will see its soldiers cycled through different tasks with the ultimate aim of providing a more effective and sustainable force.

Lieutenant Colonel Albert Tapp, Security Transition Team chief at the US Army's Forward Operating Base Airborne and advisor to the 2nd Kandak of the ANA's 4th Brigade, told IHS Jane's that the six-week cycle will see soldiers operating in a rotation system. "The campaign plan is a six-week cycle where we identify at the company level which units will be conducting operations, which will act as a quick reaction force, which will be undertaking base security, which will be undertaking training, and which will be on leave," he said. "It gives the soldiers a schedule that is predictable, so you know when you're on leave and can tell your family when you're coming home."

Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Martucelli, the US Army-led Security Force Assistance Team commander at COP Dash Towp in Maidan Wardak province, explained that the cycle is tied in with the ANA's plan to consolidate its forces at key locations and project force.