Fact: The Afghanistan National Army Special Forces (ANASF) is the most overused force in Afghanistan.

I have personally worked with several Kandaks (units), and their training, motivation, and ops schedule vary greatly. A Special Forces Captain will often be visiting, building rapport, and convincing their unit commander to do more operations.

These Kandak commanders struggle to do more operations. They are overused and motivation is typically low. U.S. Special Forces cannot go on operations without them and need them to lead from the front; however, I have yet to see or hear about this ever happening. After being in the country working with them for nearly two decades, they still cannot conduct operations on their own and heavily rely on the U.S. military for air support and superior firepower.

Secrecy and insider threats are a genuine concern for U.S. Forces. Two SF soldiers from 7th SFG(A) were killed last week and many more were injured by partner forces in a Green-on-Blue attack. Because of this, frequently, only the ANASF Commander knows beforehand where the ANASF will operate. This leads to very vague planning by the ANASF, while U.S. SF teams go through a very detailed and deliberate planning process.