Page 82 - Wish Stream Year of 2018

Cadets and I in the Library, one of several projects completed during my first tour
tion centre, training grounds, improved assault course, a complex for female cadets and staff, and various other facilities worthy of
a modern military academy which
justified, criticism, returning in their stead respect and, in many cases, friendship. In due course I developed a close professional relationship with many of my mentees – in particular the three department heads – rendering my task a fulfilling and gratifying one. Over time I also had the privi- lege of working with General Sharifi, the Com- mandant, and several of his headquarters staff, who took a strong interest in the Academy’s aca- demic affairs.
Mentoring constituted but a part of my work; by liaising with the Defence Attachés from Denmark and Australia and presenting numerous sepa- rate business cases to their respective govern- ments, I acquired funds to populate the library with over 12,000 books in Dari and Pashto on
takes very seriously the task of pre- paring newly-commissioned offic- ers, both male and female, in time of war. Indeed, the decision to inte- grate women fully into the ANAOA commissioning course has proven a positive and progressive step.
In due course I developed a close professional relationship with many of my mentees....
an array of subjects relevant to cadets’ academic courses: military history and affairs, international relations, com- munications, international law – and much else besides. The Danes and Australians also generously provided funding for the procurement of furni- ture for the library, which had stood nearly empty on my arrival. Funds were also needed to pay for the enormous expense of translating the quarter of a million words which composed the
Between June 2015 and December
2016, I attended countless lectures
– and delivered a fair few of my own – offering guidance and advice where appropriate. The 16 members of the academic staff extended great courtesy and friendship to me over those many months and accepted with exceptional grace my recommendations and, where I had deemed it
Mentoring at ANAOA. With
16 mentees across three academic departments as well as the LIbrary, the work was rewarding – but fully engaging
three department handbooks prepared during my first tour, and the 1,000 posters and accom- panying historical information boards created to cover such themes as counterinsurgency, naval warfare, the evolution in the development of firearms, and the principles of war. In the end, funds furnished from Copenhagen and Can- berra together totalled $270,000 – a massive sum which made possible a range of academic development programmes, several of which depended on a gargantuan translation effort to convert my text into both Dari and Pashto. In my view, cadets, whatever their ethnic or tribal background, should have equal access to infor- mation in their first language, in the classroom as well as in the library. If we are to encourage the development of a truly ‘national’ army, a bilingual approach is essential. General Sharifi agreed, and thereafter the academics began to create PowerPoint slides in both languages.
After a gap of almost exactly twelve months from December 2016 to December 2017, dur- ing which time my able colleague in the Depart- ment of War Studies, Dr Stephen Hart, carried on as Academic Mentor, I returned to ANAOA. In addition to carrying on the essential function
80 ACADEMICS