SPP partners join forces in Afghanistan

By Sgt. Matthew Moeller
5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment

BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan (3/27/09) - In Regional Command-East, a group of Michigan National Guardsmen and Latvian soldiers recently formed the command’s first multi-national training group, known as the Observer, Mentor, Liaison Team at Forward Operating Base Bostick in Konar province, Afghanistan.

The mentoring and advising the Afghan national army is usually lead by U.S. Military’s Embedded Training Teams. An OMLT, pronounced omelet, differs from an ETT because it is multi-national, and can vary in its size and purpose.

The idea for the combined OMLT with Latvia stemmed from the National Guard’s State Partnership for Peace Program, a concept designed to pair Guardsman from different states with former Cold War adversaries.

“The state of Michigan and Latvia have been working together since 1995,” said Army Capt. Dan Voss, OMLT team member and Michigan National Guardsman from the 119th Field Artillery Battalion. “We’ve done training together in the past, they have come to Michigan for two-weeks during our [annual training] and it always went well, so the idea for an OMLT started getting kicked around.”

For three months the Guardsmen trained with their Latvian army counterparts, including training at the U.S. Army’s Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany.

“We did joint tactical and technical training,” said Voss. “That way we will all be on the same page, not just an American way or a Latvian way, but an OMLT way.”

The combined team arrived at FOB Bostick in November, where they absorbed members of the existing ETT, made up of active duty service members from the Army and Navy.

The former ETT commander and current OMLT U.S. team leader Army Maj. Jim Hickman said OMLTs and ETTs both seek in guiding the ANA, but the current OMLT is able to provide better support for the area. “Most ETTs are 16-20 people,” he said, “we’re 47, so we’re able to cover down on a lot more.”

The team is helping establish the 6th Kandak, a battalion sized unit covering some of Afghanistan’s most remote and hostile areas along the border with Pakistan. It not only mentors the ANA soldiers on combat skills, but also administrative tasks, such as establishing supply and training programs.

“We are here to support the ANA in their development, so that one day they can take over all security for their country,” said Latvian army Maj. Juris Abolins, leading Latvian officer in the OMLT. Once they [accomplish this], then I am done, and I can go home.”