Bringing the ANSF together

LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – War is not an orderly and neat affair; rather it is often chaotic and disorganized. In Afghanistan, if you take into account the various Afghan National Security Forces, the battlefield becomes even more complex and can be difficult to track.

That is where the Operational Coordination Center gets involved.

In the city of Pul e Alam, the Logar Operational Coordination Center- Provincial is responsible for bringing representatives from all ANSF forces within the province into one room to help track the battlefield. The mission of the OCC-P is to gather operational and intelligence reports and make sure all of the ANSF forces, as well as Coalition Forces, have the same information.

Afghan National Army Col. Sayeed Aga Khogyani, OCC-P Logar deputy commander, said that having representatives from the ANA, Afghan National Police and the National Directorate of Security in one building is critical when coordinating operations and sharing intelligence. He said this coordination ensures everyone is operating on the same sheet of music.

In addition to the various ANSF and Coalition Forces within Logar Province, the OCC-P also shares information with the Operational Coordination Center-Regional East. OCC-R East is then responsible for coordinating and reporting security and intelligence information to the various ANSF and Coalition Forces throughout seven provinces.

On Jan. 18, members from OCC-R East visited OCC-P Logar to assess their abilities and to identify any issues they may have. The OCC-R East deputy commander, ANA Brig. Gen. Daoud said he was very impressed with the progress OCC-P Logar has made over the past several months, emphasizing the importance of the OCC-P’s ability to share intelligence information amongst the ANSF.

U.S. Army Col. Robert Benjamin, senior coalition advisor for OCC-R East, echoed Daoud’s view of OCC-P’s importance.

“This is the only joint infrastructure that we’ve got here in the province, and being able to have them [the ANSF] here really helps them react to the enemy and set conditions for success,” Benjamin said.

“The P [OCC-P] is really where it happens,” agreed U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Christopher Frey, deputy advisor for OCC-R East and Washington, D.C. native. Since the majority of ANSF operations, enemy activities and intelligence reports occur at the provincial level, the OCC-P is able to “facilitate planning and rapid response to information that is coming up in real time,” added Frey.

Some issues identified during OCC-R East’s visit included facility upgrades, personnel, and equipment shortages and compatibility.

“Some of the challenges for the communications are that not all of the ANSF have the same type of communications [radios],” said Benjamin, who resides in Galesburg, Ill. Some of these different radios are not compatible with each other, making communication amongst ANSF difficult.

Even with these problems, Benjamin says the OCC-P has had a positive impact on ANSF’s ability to react to intelligence reports and enemy activities.

Daoud was equally impressed with his visit to the Logar OCC-P. Daoud stated that he, along with coalition advisors, are working to find solutions to the OCC-P’s issues and that, despite these challenges, the OCC-P is doing a tremendous job in improving the security situation in Logar Province.