ASPFOR IX

Since 4 September a new Spanish force has been deployed in Afghanistan: ASPFOR IX, under the command of Colonel Martí, is made up of 835 troops from the Army and 115 from the Air Force.

The force is made up of five units:

• Support and Protection Unit.
• Light Battalion, the bulk of whose troops come from the 3rd Parachute Battalion "Ortiz de Zárate" (Murcia) but also includes a platoon from the Parachute Sappers Brigade (Madrid). They constitute the Quick Reaction Force which has been made available to the International Force for Security Assistance (ISAF) in order to provide security during the 9 October elections.
• Advanced Medical Care Unit-South (known as EMAT Sur, from Seville), which has set up a Role-2 field hospital at Kabul International Airport.
• Helicopter Unit, equipped with four UH-21 (Cougars), from the Manoeuvre Helicopter Battalion (Bétera, Valencia).
• Aerial Deployment Support Squadron, from the Air Force.

Those units have been deployed at the following locations:

• The Support and Protection Unit, at Camp Warehouse (Kabul).
• The Parachute Battalion, at Mazar-i-Sharif.
• The Advanced Medical Care Unit-South, at Kabul International Airport.
• The Helicopter Unit is scheduled to be deployed in Termez (Uzbekistan) to support the Spanish force during the election period. It will subsequently be transferred to Kabul International Airport to support ISAF.

After redeployment of the Quick Reaction Force from Mazar-i-Sharif on 27 November 2004, the force is made up of the following units:

• Command Headquarters (24 soldiers), the Protection Unit (22) and the Logistic Support Unit (79) make up the Spanish Detachment at the multinational base Camp Warehouse.
• The troops manning the Role-2 field hospital (45) and the Helicopter Unit (67) are at Kabul International Airport. Both depend on ISAF operationally and on the Ground Force Commander from a logistic, administrative and disciplinary perspective.
• The Signals Unit (50) is distributed in three centres, supporting the detachments stationed at Camp Warehouse, Kabul International Airport and ISAF HQ.