Requests from Afghanistan commanders for more trainers going unmet

Above: A mobile training team from Task Force Phoniex teach Afghan National Auxiliary Police recruits how to make three to five second rushes while under enemy fire last month.

The U.S. military is having a hard time filling a request from commanders in Afghanistan for 3,400 troops to train Afghan police, a senior Defense official said.

In March, a spokesman for Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan said the request for the trainers had been made by the commander of Task Force Phoenix, which is in charge of training Afghan police and soldiers.

As of May, only 200 U.S. troops had received orders to go to Afghanistan to fill the request.

The U.S. military just does not have enough troops with the right skill sets to send to Afghanistan, the senior Defense official explained on Friday.

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