Building the New Model Army

The scars of recent wars mark Kabul’s military training centre, and the walls by the eastern gate lie in ruins. But just yards away, white-painted buildings and asphalt roads signal the change from an era of warring militias to the formation of a disciplined new army.

Gathered round an instructor in the dusty compound, 10 kilometres east of the capital, 40 men are being given a practical demonstration in handling the Kalashnikov assault rifle.

Some of them already know the gun well. It was the weapon of choice in conflicts spanning more than two decades which devastated Afghanistan, and which continue today as forces of the ousted Taleban clash with troops of the Afghan government and United States-led Coalition.

“It is not important whether they’re familiar with guns or not. This is a training centre, and we are training the soldiers here to learn much more than that,” Brigadier General Ghulam Sakhi Asifi, the commander of Kabul Military Training Centre, told IWPR.

In another corner of the training ground, a similar number of soldiers are listening to an instructor dealing with other aspects of basic training.

There appears to be no shortage of recruits, many of whom can be seen working in classrooms as well as in the compound.

“We don’t have enough classrooms to accommodate all the recruits so we train [some of] them outside," said Captain Mohammad Shapoor, when asked why instruction was taking place under a burning summer sun.

"It’s also better for the recruits to have the practical lessons outside," he added smoothly.

The men come from all over the country. Each of the 34 provinces has recruiting centres for the Afghan National Army, ANA, where volunteers between 18 and 28 years old – all of them male - sign up for a period of three years. They must pass a medical but there are no other examinations, and illiteracy is not a bar to joining.

Asifi added that after signing on, recruits are sent to Kabul for 14 weeks’ training. After this, they are assigned to a battalion or “kandak” consisting of 650 to 800 soldiers.

Officials see the long-term objective as being to enable Afghanistan's army and police to carry greater responsibility for the country's security, which is currently underpinned by United States and NATO-led forces.

The stated target is to produce a 70,000-strong army by the end of 2006, an aim which appears to be on track. According to reports last March, more than 20,000 soldiers had been trained and made up 31 battalions.

Early this month, in answer to a question on the ANA’s current strength, Asifi indicated a figure of between 25,000 and 31,000, depending on the average size of individual battalions.

“I don’t remember the exact figures, but I can remember that the last battalion to graduate was the 39th Battalion,” he said.

An air of soldierly discipline pervades the centre. Uniforms replace the ad hoc army gear of the irregular militias, or the traditional clothes worn by Afghan farmers – who are a rich source of recruits. Saluting between officers is sharp and military, and there is an apparent camaraderie among the new soldiers.

One of them, 23-year-old Reza, from Bamian province in central Afghanistan, is eight weeks into his training. "I always wanted to join the army from when I was very young, and I really like the military way of officers or soldiers saluting one another," he said.

Reza used to be a farmer, but said the only real way to serve the country and its people is to help provide security.

Other recruits and their non-commissioned officers echo the sentiment, although some recognise that pay and conditions are an attraction too.

Recruits receive 70 dollars a month during training, with regular army sergeants and officers being paid 80 to 180 dollars a month. The men are also given uniforms, basic toiletries and food. Those standing near Reza still enjoyed the novelty of their army-issue water canteens, hospitably offering a drink to the IWPR reporter.

During their first six weeks, the new arrivals are given basic training – army discipline, parade-ground drill, the handling of weapons and their characteristics.

Then the recruits go on to specialise, spending another six weeks in the fields to which they have been assigned, such as artillery, infantry, engineering, logistics, transport and health. There are also literacy classes for those who cannot read or write.

In the last two weeks before graduation, recruits revise all they have learned before the defence ministry decides where they are to be deployed.

The base commander says all the instructors are now Afghans who have been trained by foreign officers.

Sergeant Naweedullah, aged 23, serving with the Rapid Reaction Forces at the centre, has been in the army for nearly three years, so his term of service is almost over.

"I would like to extend it," he said, adding that he enjoyed military life.

"Maybe I joined the army to make money too, because we do need money as well.”

Another sergeant, Niaz Mohammad, from Ghazni province, has been serving with the ANA for two and a half years.

For him, signing up was purely a way to serve his country. "I don't have any economic problems," he said.

Away from the centre, Noorulhaq Ulomi, a former army general, sees rebuilding a national force as essential for the future. For him, the army had a long and proud history until the mujahedin came to power in 1992 after driving out the Communist regime.

The new regime completely disbanded the regular army. “If the mujahedin had maintained the army, the Afghan people would not have faced so many problems," said Ulomi.

Abdul Baseer Saeed is an IWPR staff reporter in Kabul.