Air Force defenders advise Afghans on security tactics

Published Nov. 11, 2011
By Senior Airman Patrick McKenna
U.S. Air Forces Central Command Public Affairs

HERAT, Afghanistan -- Deployed security forces have the vital task of keeping their installation's population out of harm's way so they can perform their own missions day in and day out.

In Herat, Afghanistan, two Air Force defenders are taking those experiences and using them to train and advise Afghan National Army soldiers on some necessary tools and skill sets to provide a sustainable base defense program.

"Our entire mission here is to help the Afghans do the security mission on their own," said Master Sgt. Gary Hasecuster, 838th Air Expeditionary Advisory Group security forces advisor. "We're not here in a force protection or traditional security role. We're here to advise and teach the Afghans that are already doing the job and show them some ways to do it better and safer."

The training the 838th AEAG security forces Airmen lead is wide ranging and is meant to give the Afghan students a comprehensive course that will prepare them to respond to any number of scenarios.

"The training is made up of classroom academics, hands on practicals and range work," said Tech. Sgt. Michael Compean, 838th SFS advisor. "We teach everything from weapons fundamentals, immediate actions if a weapon malfunctions, to more complex lessons on base defense plans and resource protection."

These Airmen have not taken on this training endeavor alone. Hasecuster and Compean conduct their training with two Salvadoran security forces instructors and feel that collaboration has been beneficial to not only to the Afghan students, but themselves.

"It's an amazing opportunity for us to work with counterparts that have similar experience but in a different system," said Compean, who is deployed from Travis Air Force Base, Calif., and is a native of Orange County, Calif. "We take our combined experiences and use them as tools to train the Afghans better. But we don't just train with them. We learn from them as well."

Hasecuster and Compean have already graduated one class of Afghan soldiers and are currently leading a second class. The Afghan detachment's leadership expressed their appreciation for these two Airmen's advising and stressed the significance of the courses.

"These classes are very important for our soldiers," said Col. Mohammad Shonib Mohmand, Herat's ANA security forces detachment commander. "If a soldier knows their weapon, how it operates, and how to use combat techniques, they'll be more effective providing security and when they are out on missions."

The Afghan soldiers recently had to apply the lessons they've learned to a real world scenario when there was a security threat near their installation. Hasecuster and Compean were there and observed how they responded to the situation.

"They applied some of the tools we taught them," said Hasecuster, who's deployed from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and a native of Indianapolis, Ind. "They responded to the situation with good tactics and ensured their areas were safe. Standing out there beside them, there wasn't a whole lot of advising that needed to take place. They were ready for it."

These two Airmen have put in long hours advising these Afghan security forces. They are in constant contact with the Afghan security detachment, checking in to see how both current and former students are doing as well as advising Col. Mohmand and other Afghan leadership on higher level planning. They both say that the progress they've seen has made this deployment a positive experience.

"It's rewarding to see them physically change what they're doing and apply the lessons they learned," Hasecuster said. "It's great to see them take pride in what they're doing and working as their own detachment to make their own resources safer."

On their way out of the detachment, Hasecuster and Compean ran into a former student who graduated in the last training class. When asked what he thought of the training he received, a smile stretched across his face and he explained what he took from the class.

"The most important thing we learned was how to be ready for missions," said Yaar Gul, ANA soldier. "Taking security of this base is my duty. Our instructors taught us being prepared and always ready is our responsibility as security soldiers."