Afghan War order of battle 2012

A U.S. Army Special Forces soldier scans for insurgents during an engagement on 10 April 2007, in the Sangin District area of Helmand Province in southern Afghanistan. (U.S. Army photo by Spc. Daniel Love).

The Afghan War order of battle is the disposition and structure of military forces in the ongoing War in Afghanistan. This article lists deployed units under the command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which controls both combat and reconstruction operations (often led by the Provincial Reconstruction Teams). ISAF comprises units from many nations. In this article, units are assumed to be from the United States unless otherwise stated. This list is a rough, unofficial listing of units and formations as of November 2012.

This list covers current coalition forces in Afghanistan. See the article Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan: Allies for coalition support for Operation Enduring Freedom from October 2001 to 2003.

For coalition forces involved in NATO combat operations in the past, see the articles Coalition combat operations in Afghanistan in 2006, Coalition combat operations in Afghanistan in 2007, and Coalition combat operations in Afghanistan in 2008. See also article International Security Assistance Force.

International Security Assistance Force

The overall command of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force starts from Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe at Casteau, Belgium. The overall command is vested in Joint Force Command Brunssum at Brunssum in the Netherlands, then the Commander ISAF (COMISAF). The current COMISAF is General Joseph F. Dunford, Jr. (USMC), at ISAF Headquarters in Kabul.

There are three subordinate commands under COMISAF: the Intermediate Joint Command, which controls the tactical battle along the lines of the Multi-National Corps Iraq; the NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan/Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan, which trains the Afghan National Army; and Special Operations Forces.

The Intermediate Joint Command in turn controls the regional commands, roughly analogous to divisions. There are six regional commands: Capital (at Kabul), South, Southwest, North, East, and West. Each regional command has a headquarters to provide command and control and logistics support for its area of responsibility, and comprises both combat units and Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs).

Regional Command Capital

• Commander: Brigadier General Rafet Sevinc Sasmaz (Turkey)
• Headquarters: Kabul
• Area of responsibility: Kabul Province

Combat units

Provincial Reconstruction Teams

Regional Command Capital has no Provincial Reconstruction Teams.

Regional Command South

• Commander: Major General Robert Abrams (USA)
• Headquarters: Kandahar Airfield
• Area of responsibility: Kandahar, Orūzgān, and Zabul Provinces.

Combat units

Provincial Reconstruction Teams

Regional Command Southwest

• Commander: Major General Charles M. Gurganus (USMC)
• Headquarters: Camp Leatherneck, Helmand
• Area of Operations: Helmand and Nimruz Provinces

Combat units

Unit	Headquarters	Tasking
12th Mechanized Brigade (United Kingdom) (Task Force Helmand)	Camp Lashkar Gah	Conducts ground operations in central Helmand Province.
Regimental Combat Team 6 (Task Force Leatherneck)	Camp Leatherneck	Responsible for Nimruz Province and northern and southern Helmand Province.
3rd Marine Aircraft Wing	Camp Leatherneck	Aviation support in Helmand and Nimruz Provinces.
Joint Aviation Group (United Kingdom)	Camp Bastion	Headquarters for British aviation units.

Provincial Reconstruction Teams

• PRT Helmand (Lead nation: United Kingdom)

Regional Command East

• Commander: Major General Bill Mayville, USA
• Headquarters: Bagram Airfield
• Area of responsibility: Ghazni, Kapisa, Khost, Kunar, Laghman, Logar, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Paktika, Paktia, Panjshir, Parwan and Wardak Provinces and Surobi District of Kabul Province

Combat units

Provincial Reconstruction Teams

Designation	Composition	Headquarters	Sponsors
PRT Logar	200 military personnel 10 civilians	FOB Shank	Lead nation: Czech Republic[1]
PRT Ghazni			Lead nation: Poland Supporting nation: USA
New Zealand Provincial Reconstruction Team		Bamiyan, Bamiyan Province	Lead nation: New Zealand
PRT Kapisa			Lead nation: USA Supporting nation: France
PRT Parwan			Lead nation: South Korea
PRT Wardak			Lead nation: Turkey
PRT Panjshir			Lead nation: USA
PRT Paktika			Lead nation: USA
PRT Mehtar Lam			Lead nation: USA
PRT Khost		FOB Salerno	Lead nation: USA
PRT Nangahar		Jalalabad	Lead nation: USA
PRT Patkia		Gardez	Lead nation: USA
PRT Kunar		Asadabad	Lead nation: USA
PRT Nuristan			Lead nation: USA

Regional Command North

• Commander: Major General Erich Pfeffer, Germany
• Headquarters: Mazar-i-Sharif
• Area of responsibility - Badakhshan, Baghlan, Balkh, Faryab, Jowzjan, Kunduz, Samangan, Sar-e Pul and Takhar Provinces.

Combat units

Provincial Reconstruction Teams

Regional Command West^[2]

• Commander: Brigadier General Dario Mari Ranieri, Italy
• Headquarters: Camp Arena, Herat
• Area of responsibility: Badghis, Farah, Ghor, and Herat Provinces
• Airfields: Herat International Airport, Shindand Air Base

Combat units

Provincial Reconstruction Teams

U.S.-led Coalition

The overall command of the U.S.-led coalition effort in Afghanistan—known as Operation Enduring Freedom—Afghanistan—is headquartered at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, which reports to United States Central Command. OEF-Afghanistan's two major commands are Combined Joint Task Force 101, and the Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan (CSTC-A).^[3] With the Stage IV transition of authority to ISAF, the status of the 10th Combat Aviation Brigade/Task Force Falcon, which handles all the helicopter combat aviation duties in Afghanistan, is uncertain, along with the exact status of Combined Task Force Sword, the engineer task force, and the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force. It is unclear exactly what units are assigned to OEF-Afghanistan, but the operation is in charge of counter-terrorist operations, including pursuing al Qaeda along Afghanistan’s inhospitable border region with Pakistan.^[4]

Combined Security Transition Command - Afghanistan (CSTC-A)

• This command is responsible for training the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police through its headquarters and Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) Phoenix.^[5] CSTC-A is responsible for mentoring the ministries of defense and interior, while CJTF Phoenix is responsible for mentoring Afghan National Army corps and below and Afghan National Police districts and below. CJTF Phoenix is headquartered by the 33rd Brigade Combat Team, Illinois Army National Guard, which relieved the 27th Brigade Combat Team, New York Army National Guard in late 2008, which relieved the 218th Brigade Combat Team, South Carolina Army National Guard in early 2008. The rest of the task force is made up of National Guard and Reserve personnel from 42 states, Marine Corps reservists, active duty representatives from the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, and soldiers assigned from France, Germany, Romania, Canada, New Zealand, Mongolia, and the United Kingdom.

References

External links

• Afghanistan Order of Battle - Institute for the Study of War
• Troop Levels in Afghanistan Since 2001 - interactive map by The New York Times
• Marine Expeditionary Brigade-Afghanistan/Task Force Leatherneck