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Just received these two Afghan patches in the mail. One is an unknown Afghan Police patch. The other is for the Afghan Public Protection Force.
A little about the APPF:
There are currently insufficient security forces - Afghan, US, and International Security Assistance Force - to deal with the worsening situation. While commanders would like to field more fully trained Afghan Army and Police forces immediately, these forces are simply not available. New Afghan forces are being trained but they will not be ready for action in sufficiently large numbers any time soon. The creation of the APPF is a response to this shortfall in Afghan troops. It is an attempt to quickly provide some forces to fill the gap while additional Afghan National Army and Police are being trained.
The APPF plan calls for fielding some lightly armed, quickly trained gunmen associated with tribes. They will be used in important areas where the government is in danger of losing control.
The APPF is not expected to be a stand-alone organization. It is one part of a larger, three-pillar, organization designed to support police functions. The first pillar is the regular Afghan Uniform Police (AUP). The problem is that the AUP have too often been assigned basic tasks such as protecting roads, schools, and government buildings. They are reduced to being guards. So the second pillar, the APPF, will release the AUP from these functions. The goal is not to create a "tribal militia" but something closer to a "neighborhood watch," albeit one more concerned about preventing beheadings and school burnings than burglaries. The final pillar is the Anti-Crime Division to provide investigative services (i.e., police detectives). So, for example, the district of Panjwai would have approximately 90 Afghan Uniform Police supported by six Anti-Crime Division investigators and 200 APPF.
The APPF program is meant to be a temporary organization while the training of regular Afghan National Police catches up with the need. APPF members who prove trustworthy and capable will have the opportunity to transfer to the Afghan National Army and Police. But once there is a sufficient number of trained Afghan National Police, the program will be disbanded.
Link to Afghan Public Protection Force: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/03/afghan_public_protec.php
A little about the APPF:
There are currently insufficient security forces - Afghan, US, and International Security Assistance Force - to deal with the worsening situation. While commanders would like to field more fully trained Afghan Army and Police forces immediately, these forces are simply not available. New Afghan forces are being trained but they will not be ready for action in sufficiently large numbers any time soon. The creation of the APPF is a response to this shortfall in Afghan troops. It is an attempt to quickly provide some forces to fill the gap while additional Afghan National Army and Police are being trained.
The APPF plan calls for fielding some lightly armed, quickly trained gunmen associated with tribes. They will be used in important areas where the government is in danger of losing control.
The APPF is not expected to be a stand-alone organization. It is one part of a larger, three-pillar, organization designed to support police functions. The first pillar is the regular Afghan Uniform Police (AUP). The problem is that the AUP have too often been assigned basic tasks such as protecting roads, schools, and government buildings. They are reduced to being guards. So the second pillar, the APPF, will release the AUP from these functions. The goal is not to create a "tribal militia" but something closer to a "neighborhood watch," albeit one more concerned about preventing beheadings and school burnings than burglaries. The final pillar is the Anti-Crime Division to provide investigative services (i.e., police detectives). So, for example, the district of Panjwai would have approximately 90 Afghan Uniform Police supported by six Anti-Crime Division investigators and 200 APPF.
The APPF program is meant to be a temporary organization while the training of regular Afghan National Police catches up with the need. APPF members who prove trustworthy and capable will have the opportunity to transfer to the Afghan National Army and Police. But once there is a sufficient number of trained Afghan National Police, the program will be disbanded.
Link to Afghan Public Protection Force: http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2009/03/afghan_public_protec.php
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