Operational Design for ISAF in Afghanistan: A Primer

Afghanistan is at a tipping point, and the next 12 to 18 months will prove decisive in determining the countrys future. To tip the scale in favor of defeating the insurgency and thus toward improving stability and governance in Afghanistan, the international community will significantly increase the diplomatic, military, and economic resources dedicated to these efforts in the coming year. Part of this resource increase involves expanding the ranks of the NATO International Security Assistance Force ISAF. Due to the nature of the Afghanistan operating environment, ISAF units must work as a single, cohesive force, intimately partnered with Afghan National Security Forces ANSF. The force required under this single unit is a combination of light infantry, artillery, and logistics units working in concert with specialized forces such as intelligence, civil affairs, psychological operations, human terrain teams, military police, explosive ordnance disposal, and engineers. Rotary- and fixed-winged aviation assets must also provide support as an integral part of the team. This force will normally operate under a single infantry battalion task force and will be assigned a single area of operation AO. Special operations forces and other governmental agencies also must play a vital role. This article provides an operational design for how these units should execute a counterinsurgency campaign once on the ground. This design accounts for the doctrinal principles of Field Manual 3-24, Counterinsurgency, yet adapts them in light of the current situation in Afghanistan and the hard lessons learned while fighting the insurgency over the years. The operational design framework rests on five essential and sequential tasks understand, shape, secure, hold, and build. The Afghan people are the center of gravity in this campaign thus, the prize on the Afghanistan battlefield is the mind of the population. The will of the Afghan people is the key to our success.