The Officers Club

I have a few friends who have been to Afghanistan with the Canadian Forces, and one of them got me in touch with a contact working at the ANA Staff College. This is where officers in the Afghan military come to train with international mentors.

I was free to take as many pictures as I wanted here, although going through my album now I see that I didn’t take very many at all. Oh well. It’s quite possible I’ll be going back before I leave; an open invitation was offered to me to visit as often as I’d like. You can also see a few more pictures of this place at Adrian MacNair’s blog, who recently visited the college on an official military tour.

The camaraderie between the Canadians and Afghans was evident from the beginning, and very cool to see. Captain Mike Soley, based out of Victoria, was our guide. Between his Dari and the Afghan officers’ English, the interaction on the base between everyone was smooth and often hilarious. (There are also many interpreters who work there, including one who I originally met at the wedding the other night.)

Six Canadians in total work at the college currently, along with a smattering of German and Spanish soldiers. The Canadians, however, are working on a big project: a 7-million dollar complex that will hold modern teaching facilities and a barracks for female officers. There aren’t any women yet who have made it that high in the ANA, but there will be soon.

That’s Captain Soley in the middle and Peter Garieri (who works for Defence Construction Canada) on the left. And of course, my dear friend Lauryn enjoying Peter’s storytelling.

And that’s me and Peter, looking down on the site from an adjacent building.

An international contractor was hired to oversee construction of the project, but on the condition that they source the materials locally and hire Afghans as the workers, giving them proper equipment and training.

From our ad hoc tour of the site, this seems like a very successful project. By the time it’s completed, Peter estimates that as many as 300 Afghans will have been employed on the site. The mid-level supervisors are all Afghans as well, and they’ll come out of this project with extensive work experience.

The guy in the white helmet is one of the Afghan supervisors.

The other facilities at the Staff College were decent, but it was clear that a state-of-the-art training center would be very important for the professionalism and morale of the officers. And the addition of female accommodations will further cement the ANA as one of the most competent and egalitarian federal organizations in Afghanistan.

Although pray tell: how many of you were aware that Canada is funding this project to the tune of 7 million dollars? These are the things we never hear anything about.

Off in the distance, a reminder of Afghanistan’s recent past. These Soviet-built apartment blocks can still be seen in various places around Kabul. Row upon row of uniform ugliness.