Mentoring the ANA on liaising with the local population

For Captain Declan Lynn, an ETS (Educational and Training Services) Education officer attached to the 2nd Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment (2 YORKS) Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) Battle Group in Helmand province, this has meant supplementing his usual role of delivering education to British troops with mentoring his ANA counterpart.

Captain Lynn explains the role of his Afghan counterpart:

"He is a religious and cultural affairs officer and under his remit comes education as well, though he is the co-ordination of the education rather than the deliverer of it.

"The ANA have issues in that quite a large proportion of their population will not be literate in their mother tongue so they work with local teachers to try and develop their soldiers' literacy skills first and foremost."

In line with ISAF strategy, Captain Lynn's Afghan counterpart also advises commanders in the ANA on how to improve the relationship between the Army and the local population:

"He is there to advise on religious and cultural matters," said Captain Lynn.

"Key to his role is that he is meant to be the point of contact for the local communities and the village elders within the Afghan Army's area of responsibility where they can relay to him whatever problems they are having; whether that be crop shortages, lack of clothing and equipment for winter, intimidation from the Taliban - whatever it may be.

"He liaises then with the rest of his military counterparts to figure out how we can best alleviate those difficulties, thereby effectively, hopefully if it is done right, keeping the populous on the side of the Afghan Army."

So how does Captain Lynn help in this task?

"I act as his mentor, I advise him on what sort of information he requires, how best he could get it, what sort of information he could be promulgating, and how best to promulgate that bearing in mind the literacy levels of his target audience out there as well.

"So I'm just there to assist him and advise him in how best to get his messages across effectively."

Captain Lynn said that working with the ANA is quite rewarding but "you have to set yourself up in terms of expectation management":

"They will achieve and they can achieve but they will do it their way and at a slow rate," he says.

"Because you are trying to advise and mentor rather than do for somebody, and that's the huge temptation, just to say 'let me do it, I'll get it done my way quicker'.

"It is not about us getting it done our way, it is helping them to do it their way and it does slow down the process somewhat.

"But at least once it is done it is their way and it is a system they have ownership of and because it is theirs they feel like they have the responsibility to run it.

"So ultimately the time invested is time well spent - but that is the trade-off I suppose, making sure it is a system that they are comfortable with and is an Afghan solution to an Afghan issue."

The British OMLT contribution to the international coalition in Afghanistan is part of the drive to create a situation where the country is able to sustain its own security.

Already more than 90 per cent of ISAF operations are conducted with the Afghan National Army, which is 100,000-strong.