Building Afghanistan's West Point

Teams of officers from me United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point and from the Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan are working closely with their Afghan counterparts in the Ministry of Defense to establish the National Military Academy of Afghanistan (NMAA), modeled after West Point. The purpose of the NMAA is to provide the Afghan National Army (ANA) with professional officers who support and defend the Constitution of Afghanistan.

The effort began in August 2003 when MG Karl Eikenberry, then chief of the Office of Military Cooperation in Afghanistan, sought the assistance of the United States Military Academy in establishing a National Military Academy of Afghanistan. LTG William J. Lennox Jr., USMA superintendent, sent COL George B. Forsythe, USMA vice dean for education, and LTC Casey Neff, special assistant to the commandment for systems and planning, to assist with establishing the military academy.

For a six-week period starting in October 2003, Forsythe, Neff and other international officers joined a group from the Afghan Ministry of Defense. They worked tirelessly in Kabul, Afghanistan, to produce a blueprint for the new military academy. The plan out lined the NMAA's mission and purpose; the three developmental programs of the NMAA academic, military, and physical; a cadet leader development system; an honor code, and much more.

The plan envisions a rigorous four-year program that should prepare professional officers for service in the ANA and to the Afghan nation. Much like West Point, the NMAA will have three developmental pillars: academic, military, and physical. The academic pro gram is designed to establish the intellectual foundation for service as a commissioned officer. Moreover, the plan explains how academic study (similar to the rigorous West Point program) develops in NMAA cadets the knowledge and skills necessary for service and continued growth as an officer.

The ink had hardly dried on the plan before a second team arrived from West Point to begin working on implementation. EFC Donna Brazil and MAJ Bill Caruso developed a detailed implementation plan, identified a temporary site for the new academy, and screened a pool of Afghan candidates for the USMA Class of 2008.

The current West Point team hit the ground running. The fast start can be attributed in large measure to Brazil, who returned with the current team in June 2004 to assist with the transition. Other team members included COL Barry Shoop, the chief of the current team, and ITC David Wallace, both faculty members at USMA.

During the most recent term, much has been done to move the NMAA toward its successful opening scheduled for February 2005. For example, the selection process for the NMAA's key leaders moved forward. Within a short time, the Afghans will select the board and appoint the NMAA's key leadership. The Afghan minister of Defense formally designated the former Air Academy in the vicinity of Kabul Airport as the temporary site of the NMAA. Renovations to the facility will begin soon.

The team developed and provided department head duty descriptions and credentials, faculty recruiting, selection, and credentials; a faculty development program; computer network architecture; and the admissions process for the new military academy. The first class for the new academy is projected to be 100 students, most of whom will likely come from the Kabul Military High School.

The team visited with Dr. Mohammad Sharif Fayez, minister of higher education; Professor M. Akbar Pobal, president of Kabul University; and the deans of the faculties of engineering, education, and political science and law to explore opportunities for collaboration with the new NMAA. The team also developed a working relation with Dr. Derek Hodgson, senior advisor for education for the Afghanistan Reconstruction Group at the U.S. Embassy.

In addition to the specific work on the NMAA, the current West Point team also screened and interviewed six Afghan candidates for admission to the USMA. One candidate, Shoaib Yosoufzai, has been selected for a West Point Preparatory Scholarship Program. He will study at a civilian university in the United States for a year to better prepare him for possible admission to the United States Military Academy next year.

The effort to establish the NMAA has been strengthened by the support of Maj Gen Craig Weston, USAF, current chief of the Office of Military CooperationAfghanistan (OMC-A), and by the assignment of COL James Wilhite, USAR, to lead the implementation for OMC-A.

Colonel Wilhite is a professor at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Okla., who will provide continuity for the teams of West Point officers who will continue to support the NMAA. Colonel Wilhite welcomes being part of this significant event for Afghanistan. He observed: "History is when a significant event happens at any one time and place. I believe we are on the verge of making such history in the establishment of the NMAA."

Colonel Wallace is a member of the Department of Law, United States Military Academy at West Point.

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