ASPFOR XXXV

Since June the 35th Spanish Group in Afghanistan (ASPFOR in its Spanish acronym) is made up largely of members of the Logistic Unit, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Sancho. Its main mission will be “to keep the materiel that remains in the area of operations in the best possible state and to maintain inventory control to make sure everything is accounted for”.

Most of the troops in ASPFOR XXXV come from the 21st Logistic Support Group (AALOG), based in Seville, Córdoba, Almería and Granada. However, there are also soldiers from the 11th AALOG, based in Madrid, and from the Signal Brigade and CIS Command – the latter two, for the Communications Centre.

The Army deployment in Afghanistan also includes the personnel stationed at the HQ in Herat and Kabul and the members of the 14th Autonomous Sensorised Intelligence Platform Unit (UPASI), which has been in the area of operations since April and is composed of personnel from the 1st Intelligence Regiment. Over the next few months they will continue to offer protection and security to the multinational troops with their Searcher UAVs, like their predecessors since 2007.

After the Afghan elections they will undertake a new task: Dismantling the unit and redeploying all its materiel, with the help of the Logistic Unit. They will therefore be responsible for bringing to a close this part of the Afghan mission.

On 1 October 88 soldiers from the 5th Light Infantry Brigade “San Marial” and 5 from the Parachute Sapper Squadron will travel to the Forward Support Base “Camp Arena” in Herat, while the other soldiers will remain on call. Their task will be to take over from the Italian troops currently strengthening security at Herat.

That Support Unit will be coordinated by Defence Staff Operations Command and led by the commander of FSB Herat, Air Force Colonel Juan J. González, and will take care of both internal and external security at the base. It will take on tasks such as external surveillance, access control, escorts and patrols of the area around the base. The commander of the Force Protection Company will be Captain Francisco Mateo.