Afghanistan — Australian Special Operations Task Group soldiers mentor Afghan Provincial Police

The Aus­tralian Spe­cial Oper­a­tions Task Group (SOTG) Afghan Task Force (ATF) is respon­si­ble for train­ing and men­tor­ing mem­bers of the Afghan Provin­cial Police Response Com­pa­ny (PPRC) in Tarin Kowt.

Aus­tralian Spe­cial Oper­a­tions Task Group sol­diers men­tor Afghan Provin­cial Police Response Com­pa­ny offi­cers in Tarin Kowt. Source: Aus­tralian Depart­ment of Defence Click to enlarge

The SOTG part­ner with the PPRC on oper­a­tions and when pos­si­ble, all SOTG oper­a­tions are led by the PPRC. 

The SOTG Afghan Task Force was estab­lished to raise, train and sus­tain the local PPRC after the Afghan Min­istry of the Inte­ri­or (MOI) direct­ed the cre­ation of 18 Provin­cial Police Response Com­pa­nies around the country. 

All 18 PPR Com­pa­nies are part­nered and men­tored by ISAF Spe­cial Oper­a­tions Forces, includ­ing an Oruz­gan PPRC, who have been part­nered with Aus­tralian Spe­cial Forces from the Spe­cial Oper­a­tions Task Group since July 2009. 

The SOTG Afghan Task Force con­sists of men­tors drawn from the Aus­tralian Spe­cial Air Ser­vice Reg­i­ment and the 1st and 2nd Com­man­do Regiments. 

All the PPRC attend an eight week Police Basic Course con­duct­ed by the MOI and the 30 day Spe­cial Response Team Course con­duct­ed by the ATF before they can part­ner on oper­a­tions with the SOTG. 

The ATF also pro­vide them cours­es in Com­bat First Aid, Humvee dri­ving, Counter-IED, Pash­tu lit­er­a­cy, and a num­ber have attend­ed the ISAF Counter Insur­gency Course in Kab­ul. Some also go on to com­plete a 30-day Advanced Spe­cial Response Team Course with the ATF. 

Press release
Min­is­te­r­i­al Sup­port and Pub­lic Affairs,
Depart­ment of Defence,
Can­ber­ra, Australia