Strategic:
1. Toppling the Taliban in 2001, which headed the Afghan
government, denied al Qaeda a safe haven and support in Afghanistan.
2. The subsequent dismantling of Al Qaeda training camps
and the death of their iconic leader Osama Bin Laden in
2010 greatly diminished the influence of al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
3. A stable Afghan Government was established through a
democratic election process. The 2014 election of Ashraf Ghani,
the second President of Afghanistan, unfolded in a contested,
year-long process and proved to be a peaceful transition of
power.
4. The ANDSF is now a reliable partner in the worldwide
fight against terrorism. The strong and enduring relationship
between the GIROA, the ANDSF (formerly the ANSF, Afghan National Security Forces) and the U.S. Joint, Interagency,
Intergovernmental and Multinational ( JIIM) community has
afforded the United States and its allies strategic access and
placement in Central Asia.
5. U.S. and allied access and placement is a stabilizing influence on U.S. Central Asian allies: Afghanistan, Pakistan and
India. While tensions will continue to exist between Pakistan
and India, the ability of the U.S. to operate out of Afghanistan
together with a close alliance to the GIROA, introduces a
stabilizing regional influence. Our presence in Afghanistan will
help to stabilize the region and afford Afghanistan the leverage
to develop relationships with her neighbors while alleviating
undue pressure from them.
Operational and Tactical:
6. The Afghanistan war validated U.S. Unconventional
Warfare (UW) doctrine and the U.S. Army Special Forces (SF) organizational construct. The 12 man A-Team was
strongly validated as a military option in a complex and austere
environment. Through Advanced Special Operations (ASO),
SF A-Teams provided more than 70 percent of the overall
data processed and provided back to the operational force as
actionable intelligence. Interestingly, the parallel successes of
U.S. Army Special Forces in both Vietnam and Afghanistan are
striking. In both locations SF A-Teams successfully operated out
of base camps in isolated, hard to reach areas. In both locations
there occurred an evolutionary development of the battle space
resulting in a model that reflected the organic emergence of
extremely effective grass roots programs that were focused on
30
Lieutenant Colonel Steve Basilici has served for over twenty
eight years in the U.S. Army
Airborne Infantry and Special Forces. He has completed
combat tours of duty in Panama, Iraq and Afghanistan and
has operational experience in
Honduras, the Sinai, Kuwait,
Nigeria and Pakistan. LTC (P)
Basilici holds a Masters of Science degree in Defense Analysis from the Naval Postgraduate School and is a School of Advanced Military Studies
(SAMS) Graduate. He commanded the 2nd Battalion,
1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne) prior
to selection for attendance to the United States Army
War College and in June of 2015, upon graduation from
the War College, will deploy for his fifth tour of duty to
Afghanistan.
enabling villagers to defend their homes. %