Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLT): The Norwegian Army and their Afghan partners

Abstract:

The build-up of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) constitutes one of the main pillars of NATO’s official exit strategy from Afghanistan. This policy brief presents an overview of the Norwegian Army’s experience from working with the Afghan Nation Army (ANA) in Operational Mentoring and Liaison Teams (OMLT). As partnering and mentoring are seen as complementary activities, the policy brief recommends that OMLT contributions should be gradually transformed and oriented towards the higher strategic level of the ANA, in conjunction with the broader NATO drawdown. It further recommends that the Norwegian government continue with its OMLT commitment in parallel to its regular military presence, and that consideration be given to prolonged collaboration with the ANA also beyond 2014.