Our People in SA
WO2 Glen Donaldson - Training the Afghan Army
Glen, a Warrant Officer in the Army and former player with the North Adelaide Junior Football Club, is the senior instructor in the Reconstruction Task Force’s Afghan National Army training initiative.
“It’s quite incredible that we are the only ones providing this training in the whole country – especially considering the important role that combat engineers play in the IED (improvised explosive device)-rich environment that is southern Afghanistan” Glen said.
“It really brings home the importance of this mission. They’re such a young army; in years to come, if all this comes off, I guess we can say the engineering side of things started with us” he added.
Glen and his revolving section of combat engineers get the ANA soldiers fresh out of basic training. They are based in Kandahar but spend three months in Tarin Kowt with the Australian, Dutch and US forces receiving further, more advanced instruction. The engineering component provided by the Australians is four weeks long.
“They are pretty green when they come to us, so we start with basic of combat skills and spend some time on their weapons and marksmanship training. This gives us an opportunity to try out weapons such as the Rocket Propelled Grenade, which the boys get a bit of a kick out of.
“Over the month, we progress through combat engineering skills such as IED awareness, obstacles and route checking, to the more specialist construction engineer skills” Glen said.
Using an interpreter, the training team is able to communicate the intent of the lessons, however visual aids play an important role in helping the Afghans understand the finer detail.
“We use a lot of demonstrations to assist with the learning process and help overcome the language barrier. Another difficulty we find is getting them used to the concept of structured learning. Some of them have had very little schooling in their life, so the process of theory – practice - validation is foreign and can frustrate them sometimes. I think they are more used to trial and error” Glen said.
His methods seem to be working however; RTF engineers are taking the trained soldiers on operations with them and proving what they have learnt back in the class room.
Glen says this cooperation between the Australians and the ANA boosts the locals’ belief in their government and strengthens the ties between the RTF and the community.
“We have taken the ANA soldiers on a number of our construction tasks outside the wire. While their skills are not up to the standard of our soldiers, they’re not expected to be. These guys are the pioneers of the trade in Afghanistan and it will take them time to develop, but every time they come out with us, they are getting better, showing more confidence and really proving to the locals that they are the future” said Glen.
Warrant Officer Donaldson says that his training package is gaining interest amongst the international forces in Afghanistan with the Canadians looking to provide a similar program.
Glen, a football fanatic, will soon return to Australia and is proud to have been able to play such a pivotal role in the development of this nation’s young army.
“I was a bit upset about missing the finals back in Australia, but with both the Crows and North Adelaide out, I can rest easy on Grand Final day” Glen said.
The Reconstruction Task Force is Australia's contribution to the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan. It is an important component of the Australian Government's commitment to working together with the international community to enhance international peace and security.