Browsing: Afghan national security forces

PATROL BASE GHARDAI, Afghanistan – In two embedded assignments in Helmand province this year, I’ve heard a lot from Marines about how much the Afghan National Security Forces have improved. Frequently, that holds true. Generally, they seem far more willing to patrol and stand up to the Taliban now than they did in 2010, when I saw regular tensions between Marines and soldiers with the Afghan National Army in Marjah, a district that was rife with violence at the time. Sometimes, you see the flip side, though. And today was one of those days. A team with Marine Border Adviser…

In next week’s Marine Corps Times, we’ll have a package of stories highlighting what’s coming this summer for Marines in Afghanistan. Much of it comes from an interview I did Friday with Maj. Gen. John Toolan, the top commander in Helmand and Nimroz provinces, where 17,000 Marines are deployed. We covered a lot of ground, some of which appeared in this breaking news story last week. Then I asked the general if there was anything else he wanted to touch on. Not surprisingly, he said he was proud of the troops under his command. But he also added a candid…

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