Key Village Approach: Stabilization teams

By Sergeant Erich F. Braün

Key Village Approach — three words that mean little to many people both in Afghanistan and outside the country. But they may hold both the key to lasting peace and security in this country, and the way to get there.

The Key Village Approach does not represent a change in either strategic approach or operational design; it is simply a tactical application of counter-insurgency doctrine. The concept is not new. Our U.S. allies tried it in Iraq, and proved it works. Those who argue that Iraq and Afghanistan have different dynamics have a valid point, but the similarities far outweigh the differences.

In Kandahar Province, stabilization teams, or “stab teams”, are deployed into the villages along the key routes into Kandahar City to secure and stabilize them. The result will be to deny the insurgents the use of their traditional staging, resting and transiting areas, thus ensuring a more secure environment in Kandahar City. Stab teams comprise elements from an alphabet soup of civilian and military organizations. Most of the work in the villages is done by the military members of the team, but we maintain close co‑ordination with our civilian partners.

Site-selection is crucial if these operations are to succeed. The people of the village must be ready and willing to move out of the morass of war and insurgency.

The first community selected for the Key Village Approach was Deh-e-Bagh in the Dand District, just south-southwest of Kandahar City. Here, we decided to show the people that they can have a better life with increased security, but they must seize it themselves. With the village leaders on board and reconstruction projects established, it was not long before the community was hard at work. It is important to “keep an Afghan face”, so all project personnel are Afghans, from the labourers to the human resources manager on up to the project manager, with mentoring by a team from the Construction Management Office at the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team.

The emphasis here is to get every segment of the population involved in rebuilding and developing their community, and keep them engaged. It is paying off; locals are reporting weapons and the presence of “strangers” among them. Arrests are made.

Projects to repair roads and other infrastructure are currently being planned or are about to commence. As well as work opportunities, the stabilization teams provide flour, sugar, rice, coal for cooking, and other daily-use items for some needy households.

Over the two months or so that the stabilization team has spent working in Deh-e-Bagh, we have seen significant changes. People are working and are proud to do so, and they come and talk to us when we enter the village. There is still much, much more to be done, but word is spreading to the surrounding communities like a prairie fire.

Now, our challenge is not to quench that fire, but to manage it effectively and use it to keep the insurgents out of the villages, and to deny them a platform for their propaganda campaigns.

Civil-Military Co-operation (CIMIC) operator Sgt Erich F. Braün is a member of Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team employed on the Key Village Approaches effort.