AFGHANISTAN: ITALY PLEDGES 75 NEW TRAINERS FOR ANSF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000195

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2020
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MOPS NATO IT AF
SUBJECT: AFGHANISTAN: ITALY PLEDGES 75 NEW TRAINERS FOR ANSF

REF: A. STATE 14366

B. ROME 83

C. ROME 172

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Classified By: Acting Political Minister-Counselor J. Liam Wasley for R
easons 1.4 (B) and (D)


1. (C) Summary: MOD La Russa called the Ambassador on
February 18 to inform him that Italy would provide 75
additional trainers in response to appeals from Secretary
Gates and NATO SYG Rasmussen. 35 of these will be military
and 40 will be Carabinieri police trainers. This will entail
a redistribution of forces within the 1,000-troop pledge
offered by Italy in December, since that number is already
contained in the bill currently before Parliament (which is
expected to pass without difficulty in the coming weeks). La
Russa was pleased to be able to provide a rapid response to
the requests and underscored the firmness of Italy's
commitment to Afghanistan. MOD and MFA officials confirmed
to us that the overall total number of trainers -- military
and Carabinieri -- is expected to rise to 500 after this
increase takes effect. Italy currently has seven Operational
Mentor Liaison Teams (OMLTs) and two Police training teams
(POMLTs) in RC-West with one more POMLT expected to arrive by
the end of June 2010. The overall troop level that Italy
expects to reach by November 2010 remains just under 4,000
(Ref B). End Summary.


2. (C) MOD Ignazio La Russa called the Ambassador on February
18 after having spoken to NATO SYG Rasmussen. He said that
Rasmussen had made a request for additional trainers for the
Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) similar to that made
by SecDef in his February 6-8 visit to Rome (Ref C). La
Russa responded that Italy could provide, within the 1,000
troop increase already pledged in December, 75 additional
trainers. Carabinieri and MFA officials later told us that
35 of these will be institutional military trainers
(including some Italian Air Force trainers for an Afghan Air
Force training center in RC-West and Italian Army trainers
for an infantry academy) and 40 will be Carabinieri. (Note:
The GOI has already presented a draft decree to Parliament
covering the 1,000-troop increase; to add additional trainers
above this number would require a separate authorization from
Parliament. Hence the decision to fold the 75 trainers into
the current pledge). MOD is currently considering deploying
the additional 40 Carabinieri to police training centers in
Shouz (Farah Province) and in the Kabul region. When asked
why the additional Carabinieri will not deploy as POMLTs,
Carabinieri officials said that they currently lack the
armored vehicles necessary to do so.


3. (C) MOD and MFA officials told us that the total number of
Italian trainers in Afghanistan is expected to rise to 500
after this increase takes effect. The bulk of these are
Carabinieri trainers and OMLTs. Along with the UK, Italy
already has one of the largest OMLT contributions in ISAF,
with seven OMLTs in RC-West. MFA and MOD officials
reiterated to us that this is the maximum they can currently
provide, given the fact that Italian OMLTs are larger than
most (about 30-40 pax compared to 15-30 for the average ISAF
OMLT) and each one has to be formed from the staff of an
existing Italian regiment or battalion, incapacitating it and
removing it from the roster of units deployable overseas.
Given its large overseas deployment posture (over 9,000
troops, with large deployments in Afghanistan, Kosovo and
Lebanon),Italy needs all deployable units at full strength
in order to meet the 1,000 troop pledge it has made in
Afghanistan.


4. (C) With regard to police training, Italy has pledged 200
Carabinieri (including 3 POMLTs) to the NATO Training Mission
in Afghanistan (NTM-A) and a Carabinieri General holds the
one-star Combined Training Advisory Group (Police) Command
within NTM-A. Of this 200, 180 are currently on the ground
(60 at the ANCOP training center in Adraskan, 20 at NTM-A HQ
in Kabul; two 20-officer POMLTs in Herat (attached to the
Regional and Provincial ANP Commands, respectively),30 each
at the ANP Central Training Centers in Herat and Kabul). The
remaining 20-officer POMLT has yet to be deployed to an ANP
command in Shindand or Farah, and is slated to arrive when
the ANP unit is ready to receive it -- probably by the end of
June. Finally, Italy has another 40 or so Carabinieri in
Afghanistan deployed outside of NTM-A as EUPOL mentors,

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military police, forensic investigators and force protection.
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