ASPFOR VI

A new military force arrives in Afghanistan in September 2003.

The first 41 enlisted who form part of the sixth Spanish force in Afghanistan, part of the International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) composed by 31 countries, arrive at 13:00 local time (two and a half hours later than in Spain) in the capital, Kabul, where they take over from the fifth force that has been in the Operations Area since May. On the same aircraft Air Force personnel, 9 men and 1 woman , arrive to relieve the personnel detached at the Kabul International Airport.

These personnel, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ignacio Albiñana Celma depart from the Zaragoza Air Base on an Air Force Hercules C-130 aircraft and spend the night in the capital of Azerbayan, Bakú.

While ASPFOR V is drawn basically from personnel from the 11th Engineering Specialities Regiment, based in Salamanca, ASPFOR VI takes its personnel from the Pontoneer Regiment and the 12th Engineering Specialities Regiment based in Zaragoza, both of which belong to the Engineer Command.

The new force carried on with the same type of missions that had been carried out by its predecessors (1st "Pirineos" , 2nd "Sangenis", 3rd "Arapiles", 4th "Brunete" and the current 5th "Salamanca"), which were fundamentally: contributing to the re-establishment and security of Afghan institutions, assisting in the reconstruction of the country and undertaking actions of a civic-military nature, as well as those of humanitarian aid.

With a formation similar to that of its predecessor, the force has a Command Headquarters, Engineer Unit, Communications Unit, Logistics Support Unit and a Command Support Team.

This Group is present in Kabul for approximately 4 months, as were the previous groups.

The commander of the unit to be relieved, Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Godoy Malvar, Engineers, gives a very positive account of his tour in Afghanistan and appraises the professionalism and fine work carried out by all his personnel, with an outstanding mention given to having seen the entire force return home with the personal satisfaction of having fulfilled their duty.