ASPFOR XXXIII

The official ceremony of Transfer of Authority to ASPFOR XXXIII took place on 12 May 2013 at the base “Ruy González de Clavijo”. Colonel José Luis Murga Martínez received the flag from Italian General Ignazio Gamba, chief of the International Security Assistance Force’s Regional Command West (ISAF RC-West).

ASPFOR XXXIII is an operational organisation made up of members from different Armed Forces and Civil Guard units, although its main contributor is the Army. This is the fourth Spanish military group to be deployed in Afghanistan whose troops come mainly from the 16th Light Infantry Brigade “Canarias”, of Canary Island Command (MCANA).

Over the next few months ASPFOR XXXIII will complete the work of previous contingents, providing the necessary conditions in terms of stability and security so that the transfer of responsibility to the Afghans can be completed. That assignment, which began in 2002, will end in the Badghis province next November, when the facilities are handed over to the Afghan authorities.

The Spanish force includes around 900 soldiers from the Army and the Civil Guard as well as an Air Force contingent.

Length of the mission

On 20 April 2013 an official farewell ceremony to see off the troops took place at Plaza de Santa Ana in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Deployment in the area of operations took place from 2 to 16 May. The mission is scheduled to last six months.

Structure and deployment

ASPFOR XXXIII is stationed at the base “Ruy González de Clavijo” in the town of Qala-e-Naw, capital of the Badghis province, in the northwest of Afghanistan on the border with Turkmenistan. It will be the last group to be deployed in the province because ISAF’s mission will end in 2014. The main task of ASPFOR XXXIII is, therefore, carrying out the redeployment to Herat.

In order to fulfil that task, ASPFOR XXXIII constitutes the military component of the Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT). The latter includes three company-level units, combat support units and teams of advisors to the Afghan army and police, as well as capacity-building and logistic support units to ensure that the PRT is fully operational and all its needs are covered.

ASPFOR XXXIII also includes a rear-guard logistic unit stationed at the Forward Staging Base of “Camp Arena”, near the city of Herat, and a liaison officer at RC-West HQ, also stationed at the FSB.

Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT)

A PRT is a civil-military organisation able to operate in unstable and dangerous areas. It combines civilian and military capabilities to create a safe environment and thus bolster the efforts of the Afghan government by improving the situation of the population and supporting reconstruction and development programmes. Spain contributes the PRT in the Badghis province.

The PRT’s civilian component is charged with identifying, assessing and executing projects with a significant social and economic impact which carry direct and long-term benefits for the province. Those projects focus on areas such as basic infrastructures, water and sanitation, health, education, women’s rights, agriculture and animal husbandry.

The head of the PRT is a career diplomat who also acts as a political advisor (POLAD) to the civil-military organisation. He is assisted by personnel from the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, which is under the authority of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Military Advisor Teams (MATs) and Police Advisor Teams (PATs)

MATs are composed of members from the Infantry Battalion “Albuera” of the 49th Regiment “Tenerife”, with base in Santa Cruz de Tenerife. They advise, liaise with and supervise the Afghan army.

For their part, the Civil Guard contributes personnel from the Rapid Action Group of Logroño to the PATs. They advise the provincial police HQ.

Enabling and support units

The enabling and support units have the highly specialised skills needed to fulfil the mission. They include the Sappers Unit, the Signals Unit, the Medical Support Unit, the Main Logistic Unit and the Advanced Aerial Group, in addition to the Base Support Unit, whose role is essential for the others. These units provide the combat and logistic support necessary to guarantee successful outcomes and must therefore be included when planning any task.

Challenges facing ASPFOR XXXIII

ASPFOR XXXIII is facing different challenges which include bringing to a close the tasks performed by previous contingents. It therefore bears a double responsibility: On the one hand, finishing the work started by others; on the other, executing its own assignment, which is dismantling the base “Ruy González de Clavijo” and delivering it to the Afghan security forces. Therefore, it will have to:

1. Continue the efforts of the Spanish troops in the Badghis province so that it reaches the conditions of governability and security necessary to finish the process of transfer of responsibility to the Afghan authorities.

2. Complete the process of transfer of security to the Afghan National Security Forces once they are ready to assume responsibility for the Badghis province. When that task has been completed, the units currently deployed will be redeployed.

3. Redeploy the contingent and the materiel back to Spain.

The redeployment

The year 2013 was key in the process of redeployment. During the first half of the year, the last operational Combat Outposts (COPs) – “Bernando de Gálvez” in Ludina and “Ricketts” in Muqur – were closed. During the second half, the Provincial Support Base “Ruy González de Clavijo” in Qala-i-Now was dismantled, deactivated and closed and its personnel was redeployed back to Spain (except for the troops who were stationed at the Forward Staging Base in Herat).

The members of the last Spanish convoy to leave the base and head for Herat, dubbed “the Last Infante”, were responsible for winding up the Spanish presence in Badghis. The 16th Light Infantry Brigade “Canarias” lowered the Spanish flag in the province for the last time on 25 September.