Task Force Rough Rider hosts Afghan national security meeting

NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan– The Georgia Army National Guard’s 1st Squadron, 108th Cavalry Regiment, Task Force Rough Rider, is refining the traditional shura for Afghanistan’s National Security Forces, by giving them a greater voice within their communities. 

A shura held Jan. 12 was the second in a series of ongoing meetings at Forward Operating Base Hughie in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, and served as a step toward fulfilling Gen. Stanley McChrystal and President Barack Obama’s directive to give the Afghan government full autonomy in securing their nation by 2011. 

“We want to show them what can be achieved simply by talking to each other and, ultimately, working together in the fight,” said U.S. Army Maj. Andrew B. McDonald of Richmond Hill, Ga., the Task Force Rough Riders operations officer.

The first meeting focused on the Afghan National Security Forces getting to know who their nine district battle space partners are.

The focus of the second meeting was more serious, as the leaders established the next steps for their blended battlefield.

“What we must understand is that nothing will be achieved if we do not act on what we put into place.  We, as a team, must act on [our discussions here] and not just put it on paper,” said Gen. Salangi, the Nangarhar police headquarters commander.

But, what is on paper will help the security forces clear their respective communities of criminal elements. Military legal professionals from Combined Joint Task Force-82 and Task Force Mountain Warrior spoke to the group about evidence collection and working within the Afghan law.

“Our job is to ensure both the Americans and the Afghans are tracking on what kind of evidence is necessary, in the Afghan court system, to guarantee prosecution of the individuals that we are going after,” U.S. Army Maj. Kaiesha N. Wright, CJTF-82 chief of military justice and Afghan prosecutions, explained.

 “It is integral to the [counter-insurgency] piece that we have solid packets, witness statements and citizens willing to speak against these criminals, collected by our ANP partners to keep them behind bars and off our battlefield and out of the Afghan communities,” the Charleston, S.C. native, said.