ASPFOR XXII

On 20 February 2009 an official farewell ceremony was held at the base “General Morillo”, headquarters of the 7th Airborne Light Infantry Brigade “Galicia” (known as BRILAT), for the 373 Spanish service personnel who make up Task Force ASPFOR XXII (Spanish Force in Afghanistan). Over the next four months they will provide continuity to the work of reconstruction, maintenance of law and order and collaboration with the civilian population initiated by previous Spanish task forces.

ASPFOR XXII is under the authority of Colonel Emilio Sarabia Griera, current commander of the 29th Light Infantry Regiment “Isabel la Católica”, which is part of BRILAT and contributes 249 service personnel to the force. To them we should add 46 soldiers from BRILAT posted to other units; 6 posted to the Civil-Military Cooperation Battalion, based in Valencia; and 6 more from the 12th Pontoneer & Engineering Specialties Regiment, based in Zaragoza. Those troops are complemented by personnel from several Army units and 4 Civil Guards.

The task force is 3.2% female and 3.2% foreign, with 12 women and a similar number of non-Spanish nationals: 1 from Argentina, 8 from Colombian, 2 from Ecuador and 1 from Peru. 35% of the force, or 128 troops, have previous experience in this type of mission, 91 of them in Afghanistan – i.e. 25% of the entire force. 76% have been at BRILAT for over two years and 49%, more than three.

The aim of the mission is to provide support to the Afghan Government in the Badghis province by maintaining a safe and secure environment in order to bolster reconstruction and development efforts.

ASPFOR XXIII personnel will be stationed at two main locations:

Provincial Reconstruction Team & Multinational Manoeuvre Battalion

The so-called Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) will be established in the town of Qala-e-Naw (Badghis), while the members of the Multinational Manoeuvre Battalion will be stationed in Herat under the command of Lieutenant Colonel José Murga Martínez. Both forces are equipped to carry out the tasks they have been assigned.

The Provincial Reconstruction Team has elements specialized in support and security, civil-military cooperation, air traffic operations support, logistics, medical support, transmissions and promoting governability. For its part, the Multinational Manoeuvre Battalion, which is under the authority of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), is characterized by its tactical mobility. Its task is preventing and, if necessary, repelling attacks against the PRTs working in the provinces of Chaghcharan (Lithuania), Herat (Italy), Farah (USA) and Badghis (Spain).

Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team

Finally, the Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT), made up of 50 service personnel from the Airborne Light Infantry Brigade, will be stationed at the military base “Camp Stone”, 15 kilometres from Herat. They will continue the training of the Afghan National Army, which began in October 2008.