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Building Afghanistan's Security Forces in Wartime: the Soviet Experience CHILDREN AND FAMILIES The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that EDUCATION AND THE ARTS helps improve policy and decisionmaking through ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT research and analysis. HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE This electronic document was made available from INFRASTRUCTURE AND www.rand.org as a public service of the RAND TRANSPORTATION Corporation. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS LAW AND BUSINESS NATIONAL SECURITY Skip all front matter: Jump to Page 16 POPULATION AND AGING PUBLIC SAFETY SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Support RAND Purchase this document TERRORISM AND HOMELAND SECURITY Browse Reports & Bookstore Make a charitable contribution For More Information Visit RAND at www.rand.org Explore the RAND Arroyo Center View document details Limited Electronic Distribution Rights This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law as indicated in a notice appearing later in this work. This electronic representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for non-commercial use only. Unauthorized posting of RAND electronic documents to a non-RAND website is prohibited. RAND electronic documents are protected under copyright law. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of our research documents for commercial use. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please see RAND Permissions. This product is part of the RAND Corporation monograph series. RAND monographs present major research findings that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND mono- graphs undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity. Building Afghanistan’s Security Forces in Wartime The Soviet Experience Olga Oliker Prepared for the United States Army Approved for public release; distribution unlimited ARROYO CENTER The research described in this report was sponsored by the United States Army under Contract No. W74V8H-06-C-0001. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Oliker, Olga. Building Afghanistan's security forces in wartime : the Soviet experience / Olga Oliker. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-8330-5168-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Afghanistan—History--Soviet occupation, 1979-1989. 2. Military assistance, Soviet—Afghanistan. 3. Internal security—Afghanistan. 4. Afghanistan—History, Military—20th century. 5. Soviet Union—History, Military. I. Title DS371.2.B84 2011 958.104'5—dc23 2011033719 The RAND Corporation is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND’s publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. Cover photo by V. Suhodolskiy. © Copyright 2011 RAND Corporation Permission is given to duplicate this document for personal use only, as long as it is unaltered and complete. Copies may not be duplicated for commercial purposes. Unauthorized posting of RAND documents to a non-RAND website is prohibited. RAND documents are protected under copyright law. For information on reprint and linking permissions, please visit the RAND permissions page (http://www.rand. org/publications/permissions.html). Published 2011 by the RAND Corporation 1776 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138 1200 South Hayes Street, Arlington, VA 22202-5050 4570 Fifth Avenue, Suite 600, Pittsburgh, PA 15213-2665 RAND URL: http://www.rand.org To order RAND documents or to obtain additional information, contact Distribution Services: Telephone: (310) 451-7002; Fax: (310) 451-6915; Email: [email protected] Preface Security force assistance (SFA) is a central pillar of the counterinsur- gency campaign being waged by U.S. and coalition forces in Afghani- stan. The outcome of the campaign hinges, in large measure, on the effectiveness of the assistance provided to the Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police, and other security forces. In the 1980s, the Soviet Union also carried out a massive counterinsurgency effort in support of Afghanistan’s then-government. At that time, too, the devel- opment of Afghanistan’s security forces was a central component of counterinsurgency efforts. To this day, the memory and lasting impact of that experience continue to affect Afghan attitudes about security assistance and security force requirements. Although there are many differences between current events and the Soviet experience, there are also striking parallels. Both the parallels and the differences can pro- vide insights for those seeking to help rebuild Afghanistan today. This monograph examines Soviet approaches to SFA in Afghani- stan from the 1920s to 1989, with particular attention to the 1980s. It complements work by the author, Terrence Kelly, and Nora Bensahel that separately documents the U.S. and international approaches to building the Afghan National Security Forces from 2001 to 2009. The findings of this monograph, which presents research completed in the summer of 2010, should be of interest to U.S. military and civilian officials involved in preparing and executing SFA, both in Afghani- stan and beyond. It should also be of interest to those inside and out- side the U.S. government who seek a deeper understanding of histori- cal reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and the key challenges that iii iv Building Afghanistan’s Security Forces in Wartime: The Soviet Experience those efforts face, as well as to students of the Soviet experience in Afghanistan. This research was sponsored by the Director of Strategy, Plans, and Policy, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7, and carried out within RAND Arroyo Center’s Strategy, Doctrine, and Resources Program. RAND Arroyo Center, part of the RAND Corporation, is a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the United States Army. For comments or further information, please con- tact the author, Olga Oliker (telephone 703-413-1100, extension 5382; email [email protected]). The Project Unique Identification Code (PUIC) for the project that produced this document is ASPMO09157. For more information on RAND Arroyo Center, contact the Director of Operations (telephone 310-393-0411, extension 6419; FAX 310-451-6952; email [email protected]), or visit Arroyo’s web- site at http://www.rand.org/ard.html. Contents Preface ............................................................................. iii Figures ............................................................................. ix Table ................................................................................ xi Summary .........................................................................xiii Acknowledgments ............................................................ xxiii Abbreviations ................................................................... xxv CHAPTER ONE Introduction ....................................................................... 1 The Limited Contingent .......................................................... 1 Purpose and Research Approach ................................................. 2 CHAPTER TWO Historical Overview: 20th-Century Security Aid to Afghanistan Before the Soviet Invasion ................................................. 3 1920–1978 .......................................................................... 3 The Saur Revolution ............................................................... 6 Events Leading Up to the Soviet Invasion ...................................... 9 Afghan Security Forces on the Eve of the Soviet Invasion ...................15 A Decision to Invade? .............................................................17 CHAPTER THREE The Soviet Advisory Mission in the 1980s: Senior Leadership and Reporting Channels ........................................................19 v vi Building Afghanistan’s Security Forces in Wartime: The Soviet Experience CHAPTER FOUR MoI and KhAD Security Forces During the 1980s .......................25 The Sarandoy ......................................................................25 KhAD ..............................................................................32 CHAPTER FIVE The Afghan Military ............................................................37 The Military Advisory Mission ................................................. 42 Training of Afghan Military Personnel .........................................45 Aviation ............................................................................ 48 Border Forces ......................................................................51 CHAPTER SIX Militias and Other Forces ......................................................53 Citizen Militias ....................................................................53 Border and Tribal Militias ...................................................... 54 CHAPTER SEVEN Afghan Security Forces Challenges and Responses .......................59 Force Size and Desertion .........................................................59 Efforts to Increase Numbers and Improve Morale ............................65 Equipment ........................................................................ 68 Division of Labor Among Afghan Security Forces ............................70 Transferring Control ..............................................................71 CHAPTER EIGHT The Soviet Decision to Withdraw and the Legacy of Soviet Efforts to Build Afghan Security Forces ................................73 Dissenting Voices..................................................................73
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