U.S., ISAF and Afghan special operations and conventional
units enabling them to quickly collect data and send it back to
intelligence fusion cells for processing. Reach back capability
enabled units to exploit information and move to follow on
targets on a much condensed timeline. More importantly, those
units working with the Afghan National Police (ANP) trained
their counterparts on the equipment, which enabled the ANP
to collect and establish a chain of custody for evidence that
could later be used in the Afghan judicial process so crucial to a
Counter Insurgency (COIN) environment.
9. The war greatly enhanced the capability and capacity of
more than thirteen NATO SOF organizations including
Czech Republic, Lithuania, Romanian and Poland, to deploy and operate Special Operations Task Groups (SOTG)
in Afghanistan as a part of ISAF.
10. The war provided ISAF SOF unique enabling capabilities through secure communications network and an Intelligence Fusion Cell resulting in unprecedented intelligence
sharing. U.S. efforts to build capability and capacity in allied
and partner nation SOF units has established a baseline for mutually supporting networked operations that will enable future
joint and combined operations globally. The NATO Headquarters at SHAPE is the single point of coordination for seventeen
NATO nations that possess SOF capability. The employment
of NATO SOF in Afghanistan has produced a watershed at an
unprecedented level of networked, mutually supporting SOF
operations.
Notes:
Eugene G. Piasecki, Civilian Irregular Defense Group: The
First Years 1961-1967, online, Veritas, Vol. 5, No. 4, http://
smallwarsjournal.com/documents/cidgprogram.pdf (accessed
March 30, 2015).
2
Rowan Scarborough, Afghan Local Police key to success
against Taliban, online, The Washington Times, March 29,
2012, http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/29/
afghans-whom-taliban-fear/?page=all (accessed 30 March
2015).
3
Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, Sensitive Site
Exploitation Training, online, 2013, http://www.cttso.gov
/?q=node/186 (accessed March 30, 2015).
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