#mediaviewer/File:ANA_205_Corps_Flag.svg){kind=link}
#mediaviewer/File:ANA_205_Corps_SSI.svg){kind=link}
#mediaviewer/File:ANA_207_Corps_Flag.svg){kind=link}
#mediaviewer/File:ANA_207_Corps_SSI.svg){kind=link}
![[Commando brigade (Afghanistan)]](../images/a/af^comm2.gif)
image by Esteban Rivera, 28 August 2021
Last modified: 2022-01-08 by ian macdonald
Keywords: afghanistan | ana | commando brigade |
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The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) refer to:
- the Afghan Armed
Forces (Afghanistan National Army and Afghan National Air Force)
- the
Afghan National Police
- the Afghan Border Police
- the Afghan Local
Police
- members of the National Directorate of Security (NDS)
The ANA (Afghanistan
National Army) currently maintains seven Corps; each corps is responsible for
one major area of the country. Each corps has three to four subordinate
brigades, and each brigade has four infantry battalions as its basic fighting
units. Each infantry battalion is assigned a specific area for which it is
responsible, the battalion's mission is to secure its area from internal and
external threats. Originally, the four outlying corps were assigned one or
two brigades, with the majority of the manpower of the army based in
Kabul's 201st Corps. They are:
- 201st Corps "Kabul" (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/201st_Corps_(Afghanistan) )
- 203rd Corps "Tandar"
(Thunder) ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/203rd_Corps_(Afghanistan) )
-
205th Corps "Atal" (Hero) (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/205th_Corps_(Afghanistan) ). The flag (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/205th_Corps_(Afghanistan)#mediaviewer/File:ANA_205_Corps_Flag.svg) features the
coat of arms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/205th_Corps_(Afghanistan)#mediaviewer/File:ANA_205_Corps_SSI.svg) but all in yellow and green colors.
- 207th Corps "Zafar" (Victory) (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/207th_Corps_(Afghanistan) ). The flag (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/207th_Corps_(Afghanistan)#mediaviewer/File:ANA_207_Corps_Flag.svg) features the
coat of arms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/207th_Corps_(Afghanistan)#mediaviewer/File:ANA_207_Corps_SSI.svg).
- 209th Corps "Shaheen" (Falcon)
- 215th Corps "Maiwand"
- 111th
Capital Division
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_National_Army
Esteban Rivera, 21 June 2014
The ANA Special Forces were first
conceptualized in 2009 and established in 2010. The first Special Forces
team, whose soldiers were selected from the ANA Commando Brigade, finished
training in May 2010. The organization is based on U.S. Army Special Forces.
These candidates are normally selected after serving 4 years as a Commando.
They were attached to teams of U.S. Special Forces operating in Kandahar
province in the 2010 operation.
In May 2010 the first class of the ANA
Special Forces graduated from their 10 week qualification course and moved on
to the operational portion of their training. In November 2010, the ANA
Special Forces Class 1 received their tan berets after completing 26 weeks of
on-the-job training partnered with U.S. Special Forces. The initial selection
involved taking the 145 commandos who volunteered, putting them through a one
week qualification process (similar to the one used in the United States),
and finding, as in the U.S., that only about half passed. These men formed
the first four A-Teams (of 15 men each). Some of them who passed the 1st are
being used to help American Special Forces train the 2nd class of candidates.
Special Forces soldiers are trained to focus on interaction with the
population through jirgas with village elders, but capable of unilateral
operations. A second ANA Special Forces class completed training in December
2010.
The force numbered between 1,000 to 1,500 in December 2011.This
unit also has female soldiers to act as support to deal with female
civilians, such as searches, interviews or medical examinations. There are
plans to create one special forces platoon of just female soldiers so they
can go talk to families (women and children).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_National_Army#Special_operations_forces
Esteban Rivera, 21 June 2014
image by Esteban Rivera, 28 August 2021
based on image and image located by Esteban Rivera, 21 June 2014
The ANA (Afghanistan National Army) Commando Brigade is part of the Afghan
National Army and was formed from existing Infantry battalions. The program was
established in early 2007 with the intent of taking one conventional battalion
from each of the ANA Corps, giving them special training and equipment and
reorganizing based on a United States Army Rangers Battalion. Each Battalion is
assigned to one of the 5 military corps.
The training is conducted at the
Morehead Commando Training Center, a former Taliban training compound and is
located six miles south of Kabul, Afghanistan. The training center is named
after 5th Special Forces Group soldier MSG Kevin Morehead, who was killed in
Iraq in September 2003.
The training of supply, logistics and operations
is conducted by mentors from Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan,
United States Army Special Forces, French Special Forces, ANA cadre and MPRI.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANA_Commando_Battalion
The flag is seen
in the following pictures:
-
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/upload/img_pict/ana73cfe7.jpg (source:
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NzA2MjYyMjk5)
-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Afghan_soldiers.jpg (source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan#Foreign_relations_and_military). In
this picture one can see two flags: the one on the left seems to be the War Flag
(Afghanistan flag with probable related ANA Commando inscription, battle honours
or maybe the corresponding military training facility's name), and on the right
one can see the Standard (purple flag).
-
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/xml/news/2010/05/army_afghan_special_forces_051810w/053110at_ana_commando02_800.JPG
(source:
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2010/05/army_afghan_special_forces_051810w/).
This is probably the War Flag.
The flag (Standard) is a purple horizontal
flag with the logo (http://picasaweb.google.com/clayton.perce/YourExperienceMayVary#5438373780028325298,
source:
http://cperce.wordpress.com/2010/02/15/kudos-from-afghanistan) plus an
inscription on top and on the bottom in Arabic in white letters.
Esteban Rivera, 19 September 2010
In July 2007 the ANA graduated its first Commandos, after three months
training. By the end of 2008 there were six ANA Commando Battalions. From
mid-2011, the ANA began establishing a Special Operations Command (ANASOC) to
control the ANA Commando Brigade and the ANA Special Forces. In July 2012,
the Special Operations Command was officially established as a division-sized
special operations force formation, including a command and staff. The
command, with the status of a division, now boasts between 10,000 and 11,000
soldiers. Previously this was organised as one Brigade with 8 battalions. Due
to the standard size of a brigade in the ANA, the ANASOC is likely to be
split into 3 - 4 brigades, one of which will be a Special Forces Brigade.
ANASOC now has a Special Mission Wing which was inaugurated on 21 July
2012. The special Mission Wing will have its own Battalion in ANASOC
The
Commando Brigade has nine Commando Battalions (Kandaks):
- 1st Commando
Battalion
- 2nd Commando Battalion
- 3rd Commando Battalion
- 4th
Commando Battalion
- 5th Commando Battalion
- 6th Commando Battalion
-
7th Commando Battalion
- 8th Commando Battalion "Lamer & Sun"
- 9th
Commando Battalion "Cobra"
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANA_Commando_Brigade
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghan_National_Army#Special_operations_forces
The Commando Brigade flag is seen here in this picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANA_Commando_Brigade#mediaviewer/File:Platoon_of_newly_graduated_ANA_commandos_in_August_2010.jpg
The flag of the Commando Brigade (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANA_Commando_Brigade#mediaviewer/File:ANA_Commando_Brigade_Flag.svg) has the Badge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANA_Commando_Brigade#mediaviewer/File:ANA_Commando_Brigade_SSI.svg) featured in the middle of the flag.
Esteban Rivera, 21 June 2014
There are two SOF (Special Operations Forces) Brigades and ten Special
Operations "Kandaks" (Commando Battalions) stationed across Afghanistan. The
kandaks are composed of Afghan National Army Commandos and Afghan National Army
Special Forces. It was officially established on July 24, 2007.
Sources:
https://fa.wikipedia.org/,
https://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2011/05/afghan_national_army_4.php
https://www.afghanwarnews.info/army/anasoc.htm,
https://www.afghanwarnews.info/army/commandos.htm and
https://www.afghanwarnews.info/army/anasf.htm
The official flag of
the ANASOC (Afghanistan National Army Special Operations Command) is a purple
horizontal background, featuring the uniform patch with the inscription "SPECIAL
FORCES" (in yellow capitals) and below the word "COMMANDO" (in white capitals)
together with the emblem below.
Esteban Rivera, 28 August 2021
![[Commando brigade (Afghanistan)]](../images/a/af^anasoc).gif)
image by Esteban Rivera, 28 August 2021
There is also a flag of the 215th Maiwand Corps of the former Afghan
National Army; it is a bi-color flag:
https://mod.gov.af/dr/ with the unit badge outlined in gold:
https://twitter.com/ing22396904/status/1432017198231425029/photo/1
Zachary Harden, 13 December 2021
