Below is the disposition and structure of international military forces that were participating in the War in Afghanistan in November 2012, listing deployed units under the command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which controlled both combat and reconstruction operations (often led by the Provincial Reconstruction Teams). During its existence from 2001 to 2014, despite the photos in this article only showing American soldiers, marines and sailors, the ISAF comprised units from many countries, including: Albania, Armenia, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom and others. In this article, units are assumed to be from the United States unless otherwise stated. This list is a rough and unofficial listing of units and formations.
International Security Assistance Force
A U.S. 25th Infantry Division soldier with the ISAF patrolling the Paktya Province in January 2012.A U.S. 4th Infantry Division soldier with the ISAF soldier during a joint operation with Afghan police in Kandahar in February 2012.A U.S. Marine with the ISAF walking alongside Afghan children in Afghanistan's Helmand Province in April 2012.U.S. soldiers with the ISAF, with Afghan policemen in April 2012.U.S. soldiers with the ISAF in Farah Province in April 2012.A U.S. soldier with the ISAF in May 2012.A U.S. sailor with the ISAF in June 2012.A U.S. sailor with the ISAF in June 2012.U.S. soldiers with the ISAF in July 2012.A U.S. soldier with the ISAF in August 2012 engaged in battle.U.S. soldiers with the ISAF in August 2012.An Afghan soldier in November 2012.An Afghan policeman in December 2012.
The Intermediate Joint Command in turn controlled the regional commands, roughly analogous to divisions. There were six regional commands: Capital (at Kabul), South, Southwest, North, East, and West. Each regional command had a headquarters to provide command and control and logistics support for its area of responsibility, and comprised both combat units and Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs).
Regional Command Capital
Commander: Brigadier General Rafet Sevinc Sasmaz (Turkey)
In 2012, the overall command of the U.S.-led coalition effort in Afghanistan—known as Operation Enduring Freedom—Afghanistan—was headquartered at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, which reported to United States Central Command. OEF-Afghanistan's two major commands in 2012 were Combined Joint Task Force 101, and the Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan (CSTC-A).[3] After the Stage IV transition of authority to ISAF, the status of the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade/Task Force Falcon, which handles all the helicopter combat aviation duties in Afghanistan, was uncertain, along with the exact status of Combined Task Force Sword, the engineer task force, and the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force. It was unclear exactly what units are assigned to OEF-Afghanistan, but the operation in 2012 was in charge of counter-terrorist operations, including pursuing al-Qaeda along Afghanistan's inhospitable border region with Pakistan.[4]
In 2012, this command was responsible for training the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police through its headquarters and Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) Phoenix.[5] CSTC-A was responsible for mentoring the ministries of defense and interior, while CJTF Phoenix was responsible for mentoring Afghan National Army corps and below and Afghan National Police districts and below. CJTF Phoenix was headquartered by the 33rd Brigade Combat Team, Illinois Army National Guard, which relieved the 27th Brigade Combat Team, New York Army National Guard in late 2008, which relieved the 218th Brigade Combat Team, South Carolina Army National Guard in early 2008. The rest of the task force was made up of National Guard and Reserve personnel from 42 states, U.S. Marine Corps reservists, active duty representatives from the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Marine Corps, and soldiers assigned from France, Germany, Romania, Canada, New Zealand, Mongolia, and the United Kingdom.
References
^"ISAF – Provincial Reconstruction Team in Logar". Archived from the original on 19 November 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
^For more on Regional Command West, see "The Italian Job". Jane's Defence Weekly.(5 November 2008) and the Jane's Interview, same issue.
^United States Central Command, CSTC-A Official Website Archived 22 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
^"Securing Afghanistan". Archived from the original on 9 April 2008. Retrieved 26 March 2008.
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