Afghanistan: Task Force Viking hosts German shooters

Story by Army Maj. William Humes

37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan (6/20/12) - Soldiers from the Michigan National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment, 37th Infantry Brigade Combat Team hosted their German counterparts on a nearby range and allowed them to experience firing U.S. weapons recently.

Army Staff Sgt. Shannon Lavada served as the non-commissioned officer in charge, for the event. Lavada has wanted to shoot with the Germans since arriving in Kunduz.

“I have been trying since January to get these guys over here,” said Lavada. “But bad weather or some other distraction would get in the way and cause us to postpone the shoot, until now.”

The first day focused on training the German soldiers on the subtleties of firing the US M4 rifle and M249 light machine gun and then giving them the opportunity to qualify on each system.

“We saw 27 soldiers in the morning and 24 in the afternoon,” said Lavada. “I was impressed with how quickly they picked up the weapons and how well the German soldiers could shoot our weapons.”

Day two on the range was a much smaller audience and involved shooting the sniper weapons from both countries. As a trained sniper, Lavada was happy to serve as the non-commissioned officer in charge for the second day of shooting.

“The sniper rifle used by the Germans is very similar to our [enhanced battle rifle],” said Lavada. “So it did not take me long to get used to it and shoot accurately.”

By the end of the shooting exchange the soldiers were engaging targets out to 900 meters. Both sides were grateful for the training opportunity and are looking forward to more events in the future.

Quran Incident Inquiry Underway, ISAF Official Says

By Karen Parrish
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2012 – Coalition members are working with Afghan leaders to quickly and fully investigate the “grave mistake” that yesterday ended in partially burned Qurans at the Parwan detention facility near Bagram, Afghanistan, an International Security Assistance Force spokesman said today.

Speaking from the Afghan capital of Kabul in a teleconference with Pentagon reporters, Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson of the German army said it’s of the utmost importance that officials “explain very, very clearly what happened, explain how sorry we are about what happened, explain that this was a mistake, explain what led to it, and talk about the consequences.”

Afghan government and religious leaders are investigating the circumstances behind the incident along with ISAF representatives, Jacobson said, and the results of that inquiry could be available within hours.

The inadvertent desecration of the Islamic holy book kindled protest demonstrations that began with a 2,000-person disturbance outside the detention facility yesterday, and continued today with at least four more protests, featuring 200 to 500 demonstrators each, around Kabul, Jacobson said. News reports count the death toll from the protests at seven, though Jacobson said no violence has been specifically directed against ISAF troops.

Jacobson said the Qurans were mistakenly included in a mass of material delivered to the detention facility’s burn pit for routine disposal. Local workers at the facility noticed the books and pulled them from the fire, he added.

“Material was inadvertently given to troops for burning,” Jacobson said. “The decision to burn this material had nothing to do with it being religious in nature or related to Islam. It was a mistake. It was an error.”

Marine Corps Gen. John R. Allen, ISAF commander, quickly ordered an investigation to discover how and why the mistake happened, the spokesman said.

“ISAF has complete respect for Islam and the reverence in which the Quran is held,” Jacobson said. “We are very serious about making certain … that if someone failed to follow our rules, they will be held accountable.”

All 50 coalition member nations require their troops to take part in cultural training before and after deploying to Afghanistan, he noted. While such training has been effective overall, the spokesman said, Allen ordered yesterday that all coalition forces in Afghanistan will complete training in the proper handling of religious material no later than March 3.

“The training will include the identification of religious materials, their significance, correct handling and storage,” Jacobson said.

Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Allen each issued statements yesterday apologizing for the event.

Jacobson repeated those sentiments today.

“General Allen and ISAF, again, give sincere apologies for any offense that this may have caused to the president of Afghanistan, the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and, most importantly, to the noble people of Afghanistan,” he said.

Jacobson said he can’t confirm news reports that the Qurans may have contained writing by detainees using the books as a means of communication with each other. “We haven't got any proof of that yet, and that is a vital part of the investigation that is ongoing,” he said.

All material recovered at the burn pit was turned over to Islamic authorities, he noted, reiterating that Afghan officials are taking part in the investigation. Findings from that inquiry should determine exactly what material was involved, who gave the orders to dispose of it, how it got to the burn pit, and what actually happened when it got there, Jacobson said.

“We have to be very careful in what we do, what we say, what we look at,” he added. “This is a very sensitive subject, and we have to be exactly clear on what was found, what was the reason for decisions that were taken, and it has to be done together with the Afghans.”

Face of Defense: Soldier Earns Medal for Saving German’s Life

By C. Todd Lopez
Army News Service

WASHINGTON, Dec. 19, 2011 – Army Staff Sgt. Peter Woken was uniquely honored recently for proving that, in combat, it doesn't matter what languages your allies speak, every soldier who fights alongside you is like a brother.

The German government highlighted that reality of war Dec. 8 when German Ambassador to the United States Peter Ammon presented Woken with the German Medal of Honor for Gallantry in Action -- an award similar to the American Silver Star.

Addressing the noncommissioned officer’s wife and two sons who attended the ceremony, Ammon told the family an entire nation is thankful for Woken’s actions in Afghanistan which saved the life of German Cpl. Tim Focken.

"The German government and the German people are deeply grateful for your husband and your father," Ammon said.

Ammon pinned the medal on Woken's uniform. The sergeant, now part of the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Hood, Texas, is the first American to receive the medal on American soil. Seven other U.S. soldiers involved in saving Focken's life also received the medal, though it was presented to them in theater by German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière.

Woken had said that he views the recognition as confirmation of what soldiers know about their comrades -- that soldiering together unites servicemen across languages and nationalities.

"Even though Germany is honoring me this way, I think what they are conveying is that we are all brothers," Woken said. "This type of award generally doesn't go to Americans. It will go to Germans on German soil. We feel the same way. They are fighting the same enemy that we are, and we are all brothers."

To an infantryman, uniform, language and nationality make no difference if you're fighting on the same side, Focken said.

"We've had a lot of battles, and we've fought side-by-side with 10th Mountain," he said. "There was never a discussion of who is there to help who and to save who. It's basically like brothers, and if anybody needed help, nationality doesn't matter. You're there to help."

Focken was shot Oct. 7, 2010 when his German ground patrol at Qala-ye Zai, Afghanistan, came under enemy fire. After receiving immediate medical assistance from German army medics, Focken boarded an American Black Hawk helicopter where flight medic Woken tended to the injured soldier's wounds during travel to a military hospital.

The action in Afghanistan that earned him the award was typical of what combat medics are called upon to do as many as 10 times a day. Woken said he has performed so many rescues that he's lost count.

"I had stopped counting at 357," he said. "At that point, it was becoming kind of redundant to even count."

Woken, a Tacoma, Wash., native, said teams like his are on call for 48 hours at a time with 24 hours of down time between. On that day in Afghanistan, his team was waiting in a "relaxed state," he said, until they got the call to do a rescue. Then, he said, "We went from basically zero to 100 in a matter of minutes."

"We were flying about as fast as we could go to the scene," he said. "We were told there were troops in contact. Once we got there, we overflew the scene one time. Normally we will do a high recon and then a low recon. And we only did one low recon and we landed. I guess our pilot chose to not do a full landing. We took off due to safety reasons."

The crew decided quickly to land again to pick up the injured German soldier; personal risk is not part of the equation, he said, when you are trying to save somebody's life.

"A flight medic shouldn't feel like they are taking a risk whatsoever," Woken said. "You have to think that God has your back, and you have the back of the soldier on the ground."

The Black Hawk stayed on the ground for less than a minute before Focken, who had been leading a team of three soldiers on the ground, was on board, Woken said.

"Our job was to go into the town, Qala-ye Zai, to do recon," Focken said. "We got there early so our company commander could do [intelligence gathering] and recon. My three soldiers and I were on the compound roof securing the perimeter. About a half hour after we got into Qala-ye Zai, heavy fighting broke out, with the Taliban insurgents firing. After about one and a half hours of intense fighting, a sharpshooter picked me off the roof."

Focken was hit in the left shoulder.

"I was talking to one of my guys when I got shot," he said. "It felt like a bolt of electricity going through my arm."

He was able to maintain order among his soldiers even after he was shot, and his soldiers applied aid to try to stop his bleeding. Once on the ground, a German medic tended to his wound, and then he was able to get to the helicopter.

"His attitude was probably one of the best I've seen out of any injured soldier," Woken said. "He was still in top physical condition. He was able to jump into the helicopter even though it was three and a half feet off the ground. He was able to speak with me and explain how he was feeling. And at the end of the mission, he walked off the helicopter."

Both Woken and Focken were present at the ceremony -- brought together for the event by the German government. The two had not been in contact with each other since Focken departed Woken's Black Hawk in Afghanistan in 2010.

"Normally I'll get my patient, I'll take care of them on the aircraft, then they walk away. I never hear or see from them again,” Woken said. “This morning, I got to meet Corporal Tim Focken and start a relationship. It provides a lot of closure for me."

For Focken, he got a chance to say "thank you" to one of the American soldiers that helped save his life. "It's a great thing to say ‘thank you’ personally to Sergeant Woken and to his crew that saved me," he said.

Ammon said the award ceremony was about more than just a medal. He said it was about an enduring friendship between two allied nations.

"Today is more than just paying tribute to the bravery of one courageous serviceman who saved a fellow soldier," Ammon said. "Today, we also celebrate the lasting vitality of our alliance in challenging times -- an alliance that has roots going back to the American revolution of 1776, and an alliance that will remain a cornerstone of our security well into the 21st century."

Coalition Commander Condemns Insurgent Attacks

Let the war veterans tell you their story in these Operation Enduring Freedom books.

From an International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Release

CAMP MARMAL, Afghanistan, Nov. 8, 2011 – The commander of the International Security Assistance Force’s Regional Command North condemned yesterday’s insurgent suicide attack near the office of a local leader in Afghanistan’s Baghlan province.

Despite the holy days of Eid ul Adha, insurgents have recently conducted two suicide attacks on innocent civilians, German Army Maj. Gen. Markus Kneip said.

Yesterday’s attack occurred near the office of Mullah Allam, a member of the Loya Jirga. Security forces shot the insurgent as he was attempting to enter the office. The insurgent then blew himself up.

Six Afghan security force members were injured in the attack. ISAF medical teams provided treatment to the injured, which were transported to local medical facilities.

A Nov. 6 insurgent bombing occurred outside a mosque in Baghlan province. These attacks, Kneip said, came just days after Mullah Omar stated in his EID message that the Taliban should preach protection of civilian life, wealth and honor to mujahedin and promote virtue.

“These attacks display the lack of respect for the lives of innocent Afghans,” Kneip said. “Instead of celebrating, there are families who are mourning today. Our condolences go out to the families of the innocent victims killed and wounded in these horrible acts.”

ISAF Needs to Maintain Momentum in Afghanistan, General Says

By Lisa Daniel

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, July 13, 2011 – NATO’s International Security Assistance Force has a “realistic chance” to meet its goals in Afghanistan if member nations maintain current efforts there, an ISAF leader said today.

“We have achieved quite something; however, challenges are still out there,” Maj. Gen. Richard Rossmanith of the German army, ISAF’s deputy chief of staff for stability, said during a Pentagon news briefing from the Afghan capital of Kabul.

“We need to continue our common effort [in Afghanistan],” he said.

“We need to stay together,” Rossmanith continued. “We need to maintain the momentum. There is a realistic chance to get the job done in the right way, and we have a chance to actually achieve our objectives in this mission.”

Rossmanith oversees more than a hundred military and civilian members representing about 50 ISAF member nations, working to develop governance and a sustainable economy in Afghanistan. Those member nations “have a vested interest in nearly all areas” of Afghanistan’s government and economic prospects, he said.

The stability group oversees efforts to improve rule of law, land management, revenue generation, civilian aviation, roads, bridges, schools, training civil servants, and other initiatives, Rossmanith said.

“We still have a huge amount of challenges,” he said, “but we are on a good way toward irreversible achievements.”

Those challenges, Rossmanith said, include border security with Pakistan and insurgent safe havens there, and the insurgency within Afghanistan. “We must be realistic,” he said, “these borders, with respect to the terrain, may never be fully controllable. We will need to do a lot in the country” to bolster Afghanistan’s border security.

Revenue generation also remains an issue, the general said. Still, there has been measurable progress in building Afghanistan’s infrastructure and governance, he said. Among other things, the national government is considering establishing a roads authority to sustain that progress.

Government stability in Afghanistan needs improvement, Rossmanith said. “At the end of the day, the situation there still is soft,” he acknowledged.

What will strengthen it, he said, is to continue with the current strategy to build up Afghan security forces enough in the next 12 to 15 months so that the Afghans can take more responsibility for their security, governance and economic future.

Foreign investment in Afghanistan has helped, Rossmanith said.

“Indeed, a huge amount of money has been spent in Afghanistan, and we see the positive effects of that, particularly in the past one to two years,” he said. “This supports our comprehensive [counterinsurgency] efforts and we see the positive effects of all that was spent by the United States and all the other nations.”

The general declined to comment on the death of Ahmed Wali Karzai, the half-brother of President Hamid Karzai and a major power broker in southern Afghanistan, who was assassinated yesterday, saying only that it was too early to draw conclusions and that ISAF will support the government investigation.

Mullen Praises Germany’s Performance in Afghanistan

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

BERLIN, June 9, 2011 – Germany’s “truly exceptional performance” in Afghanistan’s Regional Command North has come at a cost to a country that is a key ally of the United States, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said today.

“I’m very grateful for the continuing contribution of Germany in Afghanistan,” the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said during a briefing here with German and international journalists.

Since 2001, Mullen said, its support in Afghanistan has cost Germany the lives of 52 soldiers, with 190 more wounded.

Mullen met with members of the country team at the U.S. Embassy, which overlooks the site of the former Berlin Wall. A short distance away, on the parade field at the German defense ministry, the chairman participated in a military honors ceremony and then a wreath laying at the memorial of the Bundeswehr, Germany’s armed forces. The memorial commemorates the deaths since 1955 of more than 3,100 German soldiers killed during combat and in attacks, military accidents and exercises. Afterward, the chairman met with Gen. Volker Wieker, chief of the German armed forces, and other military officials.

“I want to thank General Wieker and his staff for hosting me. We’ve had some good discussions,” Mullen said.

“We actually meet fairly frequently throughout the year,” he added, “but it’s very special to be here and to have discussions with him with respect to the changing times in which we certainly find ourselves.”

Mullen said he believes strongly in the NATO alliance, which he said is “more relevant than ever,” adding that U.S. and German participation in the alliance is critical.

A big reason for his visit, Mullen said, is to discuss ways to strengthen a relationship that’s already exceptionally strong, and “to listen to how the German military leadership sees that future unfolding in these increasingly challenging times where partners are so critical.”

The Afghanistan campaign is headed in the right direction, the chairman said.

“The resources, the strategy and the leadership that have been put in place over the course of the last 18 to 24 months have been the right resources and strategy,” he said. “And the leadership has been exceptional.”

The essence of the fight this year, he said, is that the Taliban are trying to get back to safe havens that the coalition has taken from them. “It’s been a particularly difficult fight, and it will continue to be,” the admiral said. “But the Taliban is in a place they’ve not been in for a long time.”

Along with the military campaign, he said, a significant political and diplomatic effort is under way that involves reconciliation in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“Every conflict involves a reconciliation at some point,” Mullen said, “[although] from my perspective, it’s too early to put any kind of timeline on that. I just know an awful lot of people are working it hard.”

Leaders in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States, he added, “are all very much committed to the inclusive aspect of the reconciliation process.”

The chairman said he’s also encouraged by NATO’s operation in Libya, although much work remains. “I was impressed with how rapidly NATO made a decision on Libya and how rapidly they stood up the mission and started to execute,” he said. “When you consider that we did in a few days what it took many, many, many months to do in the Balkans in the 1990s, I think that comparison is reflective of where NATO is right now.”

The operation in Libya, Mullen said, “is going pretty well.”

“We will continue to raise the pressure on [Libyan leader Moammar] Gadhafi to leave Libya,” he added. In the long run, he said, “that’s an outcome that serves the region, it serves the world, and most importantly, it serves the people of Libya the best.”

NATO, Afghan Forces Make ‘Huge’ Gains in North

By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 21, 2011 – Coalition efforts in northern Afghanistan have become more relevant over the past year with the addition of new capabilities from U.S. forces, the top commander for the NATO International Security Assistance Force element in the region said today.

“I see a huge difference when I compare to 2006,” Maj. Gen. Markus Kneip of the German army, commander of Regional Command North, told Pentagon reporters in a video news conference from his headquarters in Afghanistan. “The capabilities are far more relevant to the job, [and] the incorporation of U.S. forces is making a [positive] change.”

Kneip held the same post in 2006. He commands about 12,000 troops from 16 nations, including some 6,000 U.S. soldiers, mostly from the 170th Infantry Brigade Combat Team from Baumholder, Germany, and the 4th Infantry Division’s 4th Combat Aviation Brigade from Fort Carson, Colo. The addition of U.S. forces there last spring with their much-needed aviation assets improved aerial surveillance and provided attack helicopter and medical evacuation capabilities that have made a big difference, the general said.

“When U.S. troops arrived, [Regional Command North] became more active,” the general said. “Special operations forces are really [making] a difference, [and] conventional forces take no breaks and are doing a great job every day.”

The face of the fight, in terms of capabilities, changed drastically, Kneip’s deputy commander, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Sean P. Mulholland, added.

The number of Taliban and other insurgents in the area has been reduced a great deal, Mulholland said. Twelve senior Taliban leaders are gone, he added, due to the pressure placed on them by the U.S. capabilities, as well as through combined operations with Afghan forces, which are becoming more confident with each mission.

Civil capabilities such as provincial reconstruction teams, female engagement teams and programs to re-integrate insurgents back into society also are contributing to the positive trend, he said.

“Much of the Taliban in the north have cleared out and moved to Pakistan,” he said. “The difference now is that more capabilities have arrived. The populace feels good about security throughout [the north] and is pretty optimistic about the Afghans starting to take control of the government.”

Mulholland said troops in the north will continue their progress by instilling confidence in the Afghan people.

“We are engaging [local leaders and Afghans] 24/7,” he said. “There’re a lot of positive things that are happening, because we’re staying the course. We will continue to put relentless pressure on the enemy and help our partners take care of the Afghan people.”

RC-North Commander and Deputy Commander to Brief Live from Afghanistan

German Army Maj. Gen. Markus Kneip, commander, Regional Command-North and U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Sean P. Mulholland, RC-North deputy commander, will brief the media live from Afghanistan at 10:30 a.m. EDT, April 21, in the Pentagon Briefing Room (2E973) to provide an update on current operations.

Journalists without a Pentagon building pass will be picked up at the River Entrance only.  Plan to arrive no later than 45 minutes prior to the event; have proof of affiliation and two forms of photo identification.  Please call 703-697-5131 for escort into the building.

Stavridis Praises Allies’ Afghanistan Efforts

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2011 – The fight in Afghanistan has become a global effort, with committed partners from nations that include Mongolia, Bulgaria, Tonga and El Salvador, NATO’s supreme allied commander for Europe said here today.

“In addition to the 49 countries with troops there, well over 80 countries are contributing financially to develop Afghanistan,” Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis told the House Armed Services Committee.

In addition to contributing resources and capabilities, Stavridis said, allied nations “are in the fight.”

Although U.S. forces in Afghanistan outnumber those of other nations by a 2-to-1 margin, the admiral said, allied nations have had 900 service members killed in action, compared to the U.S. total of about 1,400.

“So they are suffering casualties at a higher rate per capita than we are here in the United States in many instances,” he said.

One of the allies’ specific skills is training.

“If you think about how we're going to succeed in Afghanistan, I believe we will train our way to success,” Stavridis said. “We're beginning a transition this summer that will run through 2014, and I believe the ability to make that transition is dependent on effective Afghan security forces.”

Some 275,000 Afghan security forces are being trained by U.S. forces and by coalition partners who bring discrete skill sets at everything from orienteering to aircraft maintenance, Stavridis said. The training effort, he added, “is an area in which we are encouraging our allies to bring additional forces.” Canada and the Netherlands recently increased the numbers of troops they are committing to the training mission, he said.

Coalition partners also are at work in a command-and-control sense, Stavridis said, noting that Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, has a British deputy commander and a French chief of staff.

“As you look around Afghanistan to the leaders in each regional command area, Kabul is commanded by a Turk,” Stavridis said. “In the far west, we see an Italian in command. In the north we see a German in command, in addition to U.S. commanders in the south and the east.

“The contributions of the allies are noteworthy and part of my cautious optimism for success in Afghanistan,” he added.

Despite economic challenges, European allies have great resources, Stavridis said.

“The [gross domestic product] of Europe is about $14 trillion, very similar to that of the United States, so if you put the United States' GDP and Europe's GDP together, about $28 [trillion] to $30 trillion, which is roughly half of the global GDP.

“We're lucky that our close allies in Europe live in prosperous societies that can contribute to defense,” he added. However, he acknowledged, many allies are not meeting the NATO standard of spending of at least 2 percent of their GDP on defense.

A handful, including the United Kingdom, France, Turkey and Greece and others, are meeting the standard, he said.

But the majority of NATO partners are not meeting the GDP defense-spending standard,” the admiral added.

“So I am worried,” he said.

Because the United States pays a much-higher percentage of GDP for its defense, Stavridis said.

“We need to be emphatic with our European allies that they should spend at least the minimum NATO 2 percent,” he said.

The admiral said he stresses that point with NATO allies.

“I carry that message often, emphatically and very directly, frankly, not only to military counterparts but also to political actors in each of the nations in the alliance,” he said.

A minimum defense spending goal of 2 percent of gross domestic product is very reasonable, Stavridis said, and one that the alliance should be able to support, noting that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates also raise the issue with NATO members.

“We are all leaning forward to make sure our allies do the right thing in this regard,” the admiral said.

The coalition also is dealing with other problems in Afghanistan, which produces 80 to 90 percent of the world's poppy. This is turned into opium, and ultimately into heroin, Stavridis said.

Taliban financing comes from the poppy trade, he added, which provides a funding stream of $100 million to $200 million annually for enemy activity.

The route is marked by corruption and crime as the drugs move from Afghanistan through central Asia, through the the Balkans, and to users in Russia, Europe and, ultimately, the United States, Stavridis said.

A multiagency countertrafficking effort is being established to support the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency as it takes the lead, he said, and the military command contributes surveillance, connectivity and an analytic capability.

“It's a significant challenge, but we're starting to see some impact,” Stavridis said. “In Afghanistan, where we start this supply chain and we see Afghans in the lead but NATO supporting, we have seen a reduction in the production of poppy and, therefore, of opium and heroin, by about 20 percent over the last two years. We're starting down the path.”

In the end, however, gains are necessary on the demand side as well as the supply side and the transit zone.

“There's no silver bullet,” the admiral said. “You kind of have to go at all three of those. We're attacking all three in an interagency way.”

Regional Command North Commanding General to Brief Live from Afghanistan

German Army Maj. Gen. Hans-Werner Fritz, commanding general for Regional Command North, will brief the media live from Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan at 10:30 a.m. EST, Feb. 18, in the Pentagon Briefing Room (2E973) to provide an update on current operations.

Journalists without a Pentagon building pass will be picked up at the River Entrance only.  Plan to arrive no later than 45 minutes prior to the event; have proof of affiliation and two forms of photo identification.  Please call 703-697-5131 for escort into the building.

Brigade Commanders Provide North Afghanistan Update

By Karen Parrish

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2011 – The NATO-led International Security Assistance Force’s “combined team north” has in the last 11 months transformed conditions for the Afghan people living in the northern part of the country along the Uzbekistan and Tajikistan borders, two U.S. brigade commanders said today.

Army Col. Willard Burleson, commander of the 10th Mountain Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team, and Army Col. Daniel Williams, commander of the 4th Infantry Division’s 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, briefed Pentagon reporters via video uplink from Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan, on current operations in Regional Command North.

“Over this past year, soldiers of this brigade, along with 16 other contributing nations … have expanded the capabilities and improved Afghan security forces through shoulder-to-shoulder partnering, operations and training,” Burleson said. “These efforts have provided increased security in a number of formerly contested areas.”

Burleson said the team’s efforts in training and operating with Afghan forces, capturing and killing insurgents, clearing mines and bombs from roads and completing humanitarian relief projects have given Afghan citizens in the region opportunities and support they had been lacking for years -- from better access to cities and government services to improved schools and new street lights.

The team has established more than 16 joint combat outposts where ISAF and Afghan forces live and work together “on a continuous basis,” he said.

Burleson credited both special operations and aviation forces for much of the region’s turnaround. U.S. special operations troops are “developing and training Afghan local police to reinforce these security gains,” he said.

The aviation brigade saves lives with its medical evacuation flights, transports infantry troops to previously inaccessible areas to fight insurgents and backs those fights with withering firepower, Burleson said.

Elements of the 1st Brigade Combat Team also work with the Afghan Border Police along the Uzbekistan border, he said, noting the Afghans have “greatly improved their ability to not only secure their border but also to establish … an effective border-crossing point along the strategic northern trade route.”

The gains have come at a high cost, Burleson acknowledged: 12 men from his brigade have been killed, and many more have been wounded during the deployment.

“I think what it shows you is the undying commitment that these American soldiers have, while they do operations side by side here with their [Afghan counterparts],” the colonel said.

The Afghans sacrifice as well, he noted.

“The blood of Afghan soldiers and police -- as well as that of German, American, Swedish [and] Norwegian [service members] up here -- is mixed,” he said. “Because these guys fight side by side, and they’re committed to each other.”

Work remains to be done solidifying improvements in the region, Burleson cautioned.

“However, I’m convinced that our Afghan partners, with ISAF assistance, are up to the task,” he said. “Clear progress has been made in security, … [but] momentum must be maintained so that the insurgency isn’t able to find its way back into these cleared areas.”

Williams then briefed reporters on his brigade’s “game-changing” role as the first combat aviation brigade dedicated to the regional commands in the north and west.

Since the brigade deployed from Fort Hood, Texas, in June, it has “indeed made a tremendous difference to the ground commanders, allies, Special Forces and most importantly, to the Afghans and their nation,” Williams said.

The brigade includes two battalions of Apache helicopters, a general support battalion, an assault battalion, an aviation maintenance battalion and an attached National Guard medevac company, he said.

“Our pilots and our soldiers have aggressively [brought] our capabilities to isolated areas and areas of extreme terrain, which previously were controlled by insurgents and simply not reachable,” Williams told reporters.

The brigade’s mission tally includes nearly 40,000 hours of direct combat support to ground forces, 500 medevac flights, and 61,000 passenger movements, including combat troops, he said.

“As U.S. infantry and German forces in the north, and attacking forces in the west, gained ground throughout [the] region this past year, 4th CAB helicopters protected the outposts, resupplied the outposts, and conducted combat operations in support of our ground brothers,” Williams said.

The aviation brigade also has supported Special Forces with daily and nightly “kinetic strikes,” he said, adding that many of those missions also included Afghan forces.

The brigade routinely flies alongside the Afghan air force’s Russian-made MI-17 and MI-35 helicopters, Williams said. “We assist in the training of their crew chiefs, maintenance and medical training,” he added.

The aviation brigade has supported Afghan development, Williams said, “by flying key Afghan government officials throughout [Regional Command North] to conduct on-site visits of minerals, mines and oil reserves, in order to quickly follow gains in security with gains in economic growth.”

The brigade’s helicopters have also served humanitarian needs, airlifting critical supplies to dozens of locations cut off by flood waters and flying tons of firewood and other supplies to mountain villages this winter, he said.

Many of the brigade’s women soldiers “have volunteered to participate in female engagement training with local female leaders and officials,” he added.

“We have enabled the ground commanders of … U.S., allied and Afghan units to conduct combat operations, training, and governance,” Williams said. “We have seen great strides … made this year, and have participated in the long summer, and now winter, offensive.”

The brigade stands ready to “meet the challenges of the spring that we know will come, and we’ll be part of the daily improving Afghan situation,” he said.

Both commanders thanked the American people for all they do for soldiers.

“The support that I’ve seen here, during this deployment, is probably the greatest that I’ve seen in my 22 years in the Army,” Burleson said. “I’d love to thank the local communities, business leaders and individual citizens who offer such great support for our men and women that are over here.”

Williams echoed Burleson’s comments. “I’d like to thank the American people as we approach a decade of war,” he said. “You’re looking at two war veterans, and we command war veterans, and it’s not without your support.”

DOD News Briefing with Maj. Gen. Fritz and Col. Mulholland via Teleconference from Afghanistan

MR. JAMES TURNER (deputy director, Defense Press Operations):  Good morning here, and good morning in Afghanistan.  I'd like to welcome back to the Pentagon Briefing Room major -- German Major General Hans-Werner Fritz, commanding general for Regional Command North.  General Fritz assumed his duties in Pakistan last year on June 20th.  Most recently, he joined us in September in this format.  And he joins us today from his headquarters in Mazar-e Sharif to provide an update on current operations.  General Fritz will brief today, along with his deputy, U.S. Army Colonel Sean Mulholland.  They will make some opening remarks, and then will take your questions.

And with that, sir, I'll turn it over to you.

GEN. FRITZ:  Yeah, hello, and good morning to Washington.  First of all, I would like to say it's a great pleasure to talk to you again like we did in September.  I think for all the ones who were not present last time, just one -- brief remarks on the Regional Command North.  First of all, to give you at least an idea, Regional Command North has about the size of Nevada or Wyoming.  About one-third of the Afghan population is living in Regional Command North.  We are talking about 8 to 10 million.  And what concerns our troops, I have under command around about 11,000.

When we talked last time, I gave you some ideas about the restructuring phase we were in at this time.  Now we have finished that phase.  It starts with our HQ [headquarters] in Mazar-e Sharif.  We are now at the personnel level of about 360.  We are from 60 nations.  I think this is the highest density of nations we have in all of the theater.

We have restructured our troops.  We have now here a -- the complete combat air brigade from the United States, 4th CAB [combat aviation brigade].  We have here one brigade, 110th from the 10th Mountain.  We have here two German battle troops, mounted infantry and paratroopers.  And I must really say the soldiers, all grades, they are operating and they are cooperating diligently.  They are fighting brave, and they are doing very, very well.  And what I would like to say to you in Washington: especially the cooperation with the U.S. soldiers at all levels, it's really excellent.

And if I may, just to give you an example for that, it was in October and we had a day of fierce fighting.  It started when a suicider attacked a German position.  These were paratroopers from my division in Germany.  And this suicider, he killed one German soldier and wounded a lot more.  And we asked for medevac, and the medevac came.  This was -- these were two American Black Hawks from Fort Campbell, and they -- although it was really -- as we say in German, there was a lot of iron in the air.  They came down, they recovered the wounded, and then they started again.  And obviously, being in the air again, they became aware that there was -- there's a dead soldier on the ground.  And they came back under fire, they recovered the soldier and they said:  We are taking home a fallen hero.  And I can promise you, the German paratrooper, the German "fallschirmjäger," will never forget that.  This is the quality of the cooperation we are talking about.

But also, due to the Afghans, we are doing very well. The partnering is close, the mentoring is good.  And this also concerns all levels.  As you might know that here in Regional Command North we have the complete Afghan corps, so that the cooperation starts at corps level.  We are doing all the planning together.  We see each other on a regular basis, I would say nearly every week.  It goes down to the Afghan brigades, to the kandaks, which are the battalions, and to the companies as well.  And really, our soldiers -- might they be the Germans, the Americans, the people -- soldiers from the -- from Scandinavia -- they are fighting shoulder-and- shoulder.  And this is very important.

We are planning together, as I have already mentioned, all our operations.  We had an interesting backbrief two days ago.  It was for a plan.  It's called Omid 1390 [Operation Hope], which stands for the year 2011-12 in the Islamic world.  And this backbrief was for the IJC [International Security Assistance Force Joint Command], for our superiors, if you like, for the Afghan MOD [Ministry of Defense] and the MOI [Ministry of the Interior].

And I think we could present ourselves as a really good Combined Team North.  And our Afghan friends, they did very, very well on that.

But it's not only the cooperation with the military. It's also with the civilian side.  We invited in Regional Command North some days ago in mid-December all the governors of the regional commands.  They came together.  We talked about the security situation, about development, about government.  And this really formed some sort of a team spirit, of a very good team spirit. Today, I, for instance, I was in the Samangan and the Takhar province talking to the two governors, listening what they have to say.  And this is really what brings us forward.

So I can say our partnership has really produced tangible results.

We have improved the security in our region.  We are doing well in the Baghlan-Kunduz corridor.  You remember, we talked about this in September.  I think we have, especially in this critical area, made good progress.  We have a good combination of operations between the conventional forces as well as the special forces, which is an excellent mix, doing well very.  

And I could imagine my perspective is we are approaching some sort of a culmination point. Like we had mentioned, we will have still some hard weeks and months to go, but my guess is the -- my estimate is that the situation will become more better.  

And with that, I would like to turn it over to my deputy, to Colonel Mulholland.  Colonel, please.

COL. MULHOLLAND:  Thank you, sir.  Good day, ladies and gentlemen.  

I would like to complement what Major General Fritz has stated. Truly, I'm -- I am optimistic about the last few months, since we last talked in September all the way till now.  Progress has been made in RC North.  There are factual operations that have taken place that have done very, very well moving the insurgency out of the areas such as Kunduz, Baghlan and Faryab.  

We've been using SOF [special operations forces] as -- in the form of shaping operations before conventional troops have gone into the area, and we've had great success winning the hearts and minds of the civilians once the conventional forces have gone in there.  And also, we've been able to hold large expanses of terrain and also build COPs, combat outposts, and FOBs [forward operating base] to secure and anchor those areas that have been gained through the wintertime.

Also, as an adjunct to that, the Afghan peace and reconciliation program has taken off in RC North due to people that are -- don't want to fight anymore and people that have decided to side with the Afghan government.

Another program that has been very efficient up here is the Afghan Local Police program.  Currently there are two sites that are functioning, with a tashkil [roster] of 225 and 325 [personnel].  That's in -- (inaudible) --, which is west of Kunduz and Baghlan.  And the next site they'll go up in is in Faryab.

The Afghan Local Police is a GIRoA-backed [Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan], GIRoA-led program that gives former insurgents jobs and people that have reconciled jobs.  So it also helps us fill in the white space, and it builds another security force for us up here in RC North.

Once you've secured those areas, you have the ability to put in CERP [Commander’s Emergency Response Program] projects and do some good construction and development programs with USAID and other international NGOs up here in RC North, which have really -- has really made a difference up here in terms of the civilian populace and how it feels towards ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] and the Afghan government.

So to sum up what we've done in the last four months, persistence -- as General Fritz covered -- persistence and partnerships have improved; coordination, planning, and execution of missions have improved.  Communications between leaders have improved to include the ANSF [Afghan National Security Forces] leaders as well as the governors that General Fritz just talked about. 

And development projects are maturing.  As you know, CERP is used for quick-hitting projects.  The mid- and long-term CERP and NGO projects take a little longer to take place and get contracted and be implemented.  So all that -- all those development projects are starting to maturate, and the people are really starting to see an improvement and the backing of the Afghan government up here in RC North.

Over to you.

MR. TURNER:  Okay.  Who's first?  

Dan.

Q:  Could you describe over -- the state and the strength of the insurgency in the north over the past six months or a year?  You mentioned a culmination point approaching.  Are you suggesting that the insurgency is weaker in your region than it was since September or previous to that?

And can you describe the levels of violence that you're seeing and whether there are certain -- you talked about terrain that's now secure.  Can you be more specific?  Are there main roads now that are now usable that were not before, that are now secure?

GEN. FRITZ:  Thanks.  First of all, what concerns the, let's say, the fighting, the resistance of the Taliban, of the insurgents, my impression is -- and this is why I'm using the term "culmination point" -- the way they fight becomes more and more desperate and more and more brutal.

And I will give you an example for that.  You might have heard that in October, one of the province governors was killed in -- this was the province governor of Kunduz.  He was killed, it must be mentioned, in a mosque on the -- during the Friday prayer.  This is comparable, I think, if you would kill a politician of the United States or in Germany on a Sunday mass, mass in a church, and then you would tell the people you would like the Christians.

And it is also the way they treat their own populace.  I mean, they're using people as living shields and so on and so on.  And I think from that perspective, they really get aware that it's -- it is getting now very, very serious for them, and they are -- have a feeling that we are -- we are making this progress.

And what concerns the area, the terrain, talking about Kunduz-Baghlan corridor, you know, it is very important because two roads -- two LOCs [lines of communication] -- they come from the north from the Hairatan border crossing, from Uzbekistan and from Shir Khan Bandar, from Tajikistan.

And it is very important to keep these open for all our resupply, not only for the civilian one but also for the military ones.  And I think we are successful in to keep this -- these routes open.

Q:  So just to follow up, then, is -- are -- is the Taliban expanding its areas in the north?  Is it -- and are levels of violence increasing or is the opposite the case?

GEN. FRITZ:  Could you repeat your question, please?  I couldn't get it precisely.  Please, could you repeat it?

Q:  Is the Taliban expanding its activity in the north?  And are -- is -- are levels of violence increasing, or is the opposite the case?

GEN. FRITZ:  I think the influence of the Taliban is diminishing, definitely.  And as we said, they are leaving the area.  If they don't leave, they were killed.  They were handing themselves over to us -- this is what Colonel Mulholland mentioned -- by the reintegration program.  So they are simply giving up.  

And the security bubble we have here in the area, Kunduz, Baghlan, as west -- as well as we have in west -- (inaudible) -- it is permanently expanding.  So it is getting better.

Q:  What evidence do you have that any serious type Taliban commanders and others are actually prepared to give up?  Are you just talking about very low-level people who are coming and handing over their arms?

GEN. FRITZ:  I mean, I can only talk about the Taliban leaders here in our -- in our region.  And so I'm talking about the low and the medium level, I think.  And these people are really -- a lot of them are giving up; they're coming with their -- with their soldiers, if you like, or with their -- with the members of their troops.  It might be 10.  It might -- been 15 or more, sometimes.  And they are obviously they're giving up.

My impression is that also these people, they are war tired on the one hand, and on the other hand, they are -- they really get a feeling that they're on loser street.

Q:  But when they come, what do you give to them to convince them that they should swap sides, as it were?  

GEN. FRITZ:  I mean, there are two programs we can offer.  The one is the APRP, the Afghan Peace and Reconciliation Program, and the other one is the ALP program, the Afghan Local Police Program.  Both programs have as a precondition that all these people are registered, that they are telling clearly that they agree on the Afghan constitution, on the Afghan law, that they accept GIRoA as authorities.  Then they have to hand over their weapons they were registered, the people were registered.  We are checking as good as we can whether there are really criminals among them.  

And then they can go into the programs.  What concerns the reintegration program, they can learn a civilian job, I would say, they could get a -- maybe a teacher, whatever they like, on the one hand.  On the other hand, they can join the Afghan Local Police Program, so they can join the local police, which is a special program.  And I think, Sean, if you like, you can comment on that in a little bit more detail.

COL. MULHOLLAND:  The simple answer to an APRP and ALP is APRP allows them, after they've been forgiven and, obviously, enrolled in the program, it gives them the opportunity for vocational training. While they're going to training, they receive a stipend of $88 a month to keep food on the table.  The ALP is actually a job, which is a program they can stay enrolled in for two to five years.  

So that's the difference between the APRP program and the ALP program.  Both are good alternatives to what they're doing now.

And a lot of people are seeing the light and wanting to become part of the Afghan government or part of the solution.

Q: This is Al Pessin with VOA. Can you give us some numbers as well as what the percentages are of these Taliban who have surrendered?

GEN. FRITZ: I mean you can only give, from my point of view, a percentage if you know exactly what 100 percent is. What we can say is in terms of real figures, there are groupings coming to us -- they might be 20, they might be more than 20. Very, very -- actually, currently we have a group which would like to come to us in the Takhar province -- we are talking about 36 men. In the other provinces it might be more. And this is what we expect to come. And this equals exactly the size of the group they are fighting in. You know, these are not battalions which are coming. They fight in groups, as I have already said, between 10, 15, 20 maybe more, maybe thirty or forty.

But that is what we see on the radar on our bases.

COL. MULHOLLAND: The current totals in RC North are -- that we have to date is we have had 540 formally reintegrated in RC North. Last week we reintegrated 64 up in Emam Saheb. And they have been doing very well. And they’re under the -- it’s an Afghan program -- so they’re under the supervision of the provincial governor, the district chief -- the provincial chief of police and the district governor. And we help them administer the program.

GEN. FRITZ: I mean, if I may add on that, this is truly a decisive point to make clear: that ISAF is in a supporting role as concerns both programs, the APRP and the ALP program as well.

But there is another important point. It is very, very important that the people really accept these homecoming ones. So the forgiving is important and the people, the village – they must really accept these people to say: yes, we would like to have them here because they are from the area, they are from the village and they are not from somewhere else.

Q: General, I know it’s difficult, but -- general or colonel, can you guess at an approximate percentage that the 540 represents? Is it 1 percent, 5, 10, any number you can put on it?

GEN. FRITZ: No, I mean, this is -- if you ask me for the percentage, what the 500 stands for, 550, it would really mean we can exactly count what is in the area which is difficult because groups are moving from one part to the other. But I think it is a percentage which really makes a difference and the tendency which I see for the future is more to come in. So this is really a success we can talk about.

Q: Colonel, yes, David Cloud with the LA Times. I just wanted to follow up on something you said about the ALP.  How many ALP units do you have in your region now? And  roughly, I don’t expect exact numbers, but how many personnel are involved in the program in your region now? And how many are planned sort of over the next six months? I mean, I think the plan is to ramp this program up fairly dramatically. So how many -- so what does it look like now and what is it going to look like in the next month?

GEN. FRITZ: It’s about the ALP.

COL. MULHOLLAND: ALP.

The -- right now we have two sites that are active and the third site is going to happen this month in Faryab.

Right now there are nine sites that have been approved by the MOI, and we will get them in as soon as we have the mentors in place.

With ALP, you have to have people that are administrating the equipment and, obviously, conducting the training and mentoring the new -- the newly aligned Afghan Local Police.  So they can just throw weapons out there and throw trucks out there and uniforms and assume it's going to go well.  So they -- we're doing it under control.  It's under control of CFSOCC [Combined Forces Special Operations Component Command] out of ISAF.  And as we work with the CFSOCC folks, we are implementing ALP as fast and as controlled as possible.  Over.

Q:  I haven't heard the program described as a reintegration program before.  Maybe that's just my ignorance, but do you see it -- do you use it primarily as a reintegration program, ie. to bring former fighters back into loyalty to the government, or is anyone eligible -- any tribe, any region, eligible to offer up individuals to serve as ALP personnel?

GEN. FRITZ:  Well, I think, first of all what concerns the reintegration program, it is really a program to bring people back into society, so to speak.  You remember at the beginning I said my impression is that the people are war tired.  It is the population -- and I think there is a lot of the Taliban fighters.  And, I mean, the best what can happen is really they give up, they go back to the village they are from, and they joining the reintegration program. And the job training they get, the vocational training is very good. And also the community, the village they go to, they get some money to support them into these programs.  So they are -- both sides -- it's a win-win situation.

In the medium- and long-term, I think this is exactly what we need.  I mean, if the foot soldiers, so to speak, are leaving the Taliban, the Taliban leaders to where -- who should the Taliban leaders fight with?

And this is really a very important point.  And it is -- the reintegration program, from my point of view, is not only to gain people for the ALP program, but also the ALP program, as we have already said, is at the moment, is without alternative, because it also helps us to fill gaps we have still with the Afghan uniformed police.

Q:  Could I make one more try here?  Okay.  Just one more follow- up.  But, I, the ALP program has been presented as a program to defend against the Taliban.  I mean, I understand that what you're talking about is reintegration, bringing fighters back in.  But I don't -- I never heard it called a reintegration program per se before.  And I am curious, I mean, how do you make sure that these units that you have -- that you're signing up -- small numbers, albeit -- are, in fact, loyal to the government in the ALP?

COL. MULHOLLAND:  The -- when the APRPs are signed up, they are vetted by the Afghans, and they're also forgiven by the people that come from their village.  And a lot of the APRP -- and the ALP, for that matter -- are placed back in their local villages.  They're not moved around from city to city.  So there's a lot of people that know these people and have a historical knowledge of these people and their history.

So the local police and the provincial chief of police are the people that do the vetting on these people to make sure that they are -- they are from the area and they are obviously willing to participate in the reintegration program, and they can vouch for their history and what things they've done, allegedly, in -- throughout their lives.

So that's the process that we use, and that's -- it's part of the Afghan peace and reconciliation process.  So that's part of the vetting that we do with the Afghans.  Over.

MR. TURNER:  Luis.

Q:  Gentlemen, it's Luis Martinez with ABC News.

It sounds like you're making progress with Taliban who are from -- who are local Taliban, they are from the region.  

How much of a problem is it from fighters who come from other parts of Afghanistan, say, from Kandahar?  Are they a significant problem for you up there, in the north?

GEN. FRITZ:  Well, we have very often got these questions concerning fighters coming from other provinces into the north.  I mean, you never can exclude this, but what we can see at the moment -- and this is the situation picture we have -- there are not so many coming from other parts of Afghanistan into the north. There might be, from time to time, some sort of an exchange of knowledge which they have, for instance, in terms of IED [improvised explosive device].  But we're not talking about big numbers coming from outside.  

Yes, we have some foreign fighters on the Taliban.  You can recognize these people.  They have special gear; they have a little bit different weapons.  But I also think that the numbers are not so tremendous.

Q:  Again, General Petraeus has spoken, if I got his phraseology right, about stopping the Taliban momentum in most of the country and reversing it in much of the country.  

Can you describe your area in those terms as to what percentage of your AOR [area of responsibility] the Taliban has the momentum, where it's been stopped and where it's been reversed?  And how will that situation influence the recommendations that you have made and will make to ISAF headquarters about potential troop reductions later this year?

GEN. FRITZ:  Well, first of all, what concerns the momentum of our operations, I can tell you we will keep it.  And I have always said and I think I've already said this in September.  If we can, we will fight the winter through, to make sure that all the foxholes are closed when the one or the other of the Taliban might come back in spring.

Yeah, this is one thing.

The other thing is what concerns the question of reduction of troops.  I think -- and please remember I was speaking about the culmination point, and we haven't reached that point. So there are still -- there's still a way to go for the forthcoming weeks and months.  And I'm saying this might be really fierce fighting we have before we have reached the top.  

And what I think is that the year 2011 -- so it's this year -- will be a decisive year, and we should see how the situation develops.  And in the end, we have to make a clear statement what we -- what -- how we see the progress in security.  This is one thing.  

The other aspect is, reduction of troops, from my point of view, is not only dependent from the security situation; it is also dependent from the development situation and the good governance situation.  So with other words, the reduction of troops is a purely -- is a very high-level political questions -- question which has to be decided, first of all, and discussed among the ISAF nations, and then we have to talk about this with the Afghan side.

Q:  General, generally speaking, the north has been seen as, you know, not the hottest area of fighting in Afghanistan, and it's an area where I think -- some observers believe some of the initial troop reductions could come.  Would you agree with that? 

GEN. FRITZ:  I'm not sure whether I got the first part of the -- of your question.  It was about -- again, about reduction of troop levels, right?  What was the first part of the question?  Could you repeat this, please?

Q:  Sure.  That the north is not the area of the most intense fighting in the country and that therefore there's some expectation that some of the initial troop reductions could come from your area, and I was asking whether you agree that your area would be ready for some of those initial reductions by July.

GEN. FRITZ:  Yeah, got this.  I mean, you are absolutely right in saying that we are not in the point of -- in the operational point of main effort here in Afghanistan, which is definitely in the south and southwest, as you know.

But I wouldn't say this is all what automatically means that we have to -- that we have to start the troop reductions here.  I mean, what -- I've described the area we are in.  And, again, it is like Wyoming and Nevada.  It's 11,000 troops under command.  We have on the Afghan side about 9,000 and some more from the police side.  But this is really what I need at the moment, and if the forthcoming weeks and months are such as I expect to be, because -- which means we have to -- still to fight.  This is what we need, and there are -- there's, I think, from that perspective no room for reduction at the moment.

MR. TURNER:  Okay.  We have time for one more question.

Q:  Well, I just need him to clarify, at the moment, or during this entire year?  Because the question was in 2011 through July and then --

GEN. FRITZ:  Sorry, what -- I mean, what we are doing now is a little bit, you know, crystalballing.  I was more happy than happy if I could say how the situation would look like at the end of this year.  Possibly, this was the $5 million question.  But what I'm saying is, as a soldier, let's see how the situation develops this year.  And we are permanently in the progress -- in the process of making assessment of the situation. 

And I think in the second half of the year, let's see what the situation is like.  If the situation is so stable that you can talk about troop reductions, can do it, if we find out that in some areas, we can afford to put our troops, maybe, maybe we have to re-invest it on the other side.

But again, you have all to -- you have -- you have to see this all within the political frame; within the frame, also, of development and good governance.

MR. TURNER:  Okay.  Last question.

Q:  Hi.  This is Kevin Baron from Stars and Stripes.  Colonel, could you just get more specific on the ALP?  You said there were two sites.  How many people have joined the ALP in those two sites?  And how many of them are known to be ex-Taliban?

COL. MULHOLLAND:  The two sites -- one is a tashkil of 225, and we expect that to be filled.  Currently there's about 120 enrolled. And as the -- as the insurgents come -- or they don't have to be insurgents.  They have -- they can be reconciles, they can be locals that actually want a security job.  They come to them.  And the other -- the other place is down in Baghlan.  Currently there is 150. There'll be 200 by tomorrow.  And they are enrolling and assessing, from MOI, the ALP candidates.  As a percentage of how many are Taliban, I couldn't beg to guess.  I'm sure there are some, and some of our vetting processes have -- showed that some of the -- some of the people that are trying to get in there are Taliban, but they're not allowed to be -- to come into the Afghan Local Police program.  So I would -- I would say the percentage is very, very low due to the stringent vetting process and also our vetting processes.

Over.

MR. TURNER:  Okay.  Gentlemen, with that, General, Colonel, I'll turn it back to you for any closing remarks you would like to make.

GEN. FRITZ:  Well, I -- from my point of view, I would like to say the year 2010, last year, was a good and successful year for us, although we have lost soldiers from so many nations and I deeply regret this, and all my condolences always are with the families and with the friends of them.  But it was -- on the bottom line, it was a successful year, as we have tried to describe in this interview.

And my second point is, I really hope and pray that all the soldiers come home safe and sound after the operations.  And I would like to say thank you for the support we're getting from you.  I will never forget -- it was on Christmastime, we get lots of letters from Germany, and even for us Germans there were letters from a class in New Jersey, written by the children there, and they thanked us for the good job we are doing here.  And my special thanks -- I'm not sure whether he can -- she can hear me -- goes to Lorene.  She wrote me a letter, she said doing well and thank you very much for what we are doing.  

So thank you for all your support.  And please be reassured we try our best, and in the end we will succeed.

Thank you very much indeed.

MR. TURNER:  All right.  Thank you very much, gentlemen.