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FM AMEMBASSY ROME
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3297
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHBUL/AMEMBASSY KABUL PRIORITY 0587
RUEHMIL/AMCONSUL MILAN PRIORITY 0497
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 4055
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 4283
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO PRIORITY 3085
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ROME 000195 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/19/2020 
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR MOPS NATO IT AF
SUBJECT: AFGHANISTAN: ITALY PLEDGES 75 NEW TRAINERS FOR ANSF 
 
REF: A. STATE 14366 
     ¶B. ROME 83 
     ¶C. ROME 172 
 
ROME 00000195  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: Acting Political Minister-Counselor J. Liam Wasley for R 
easons 1.4 (B) and (D) 
 
¶1. (C)  Summary: MOD La Russa called the Ambassador on 
February 18 to inform him that Italy would provide 75 
additional trainers in response to appeals from Secretary 
Gates and NATO SYG Rasmussen.  35 of these will be military 
and 40 will be Carabinieri police trainers.  This will entail 
a redistribution of forces within the 1,000-troop pledge 
offered by Italy in December, since that number is already 
contained in the bill currently before Parliament (which is 
expected to pass without difficulty in the coming weeks).  La 
Russa was pleased to be able to provide a rapid response to 
the requests and underscored the firmness of Italy's 
commitment to Afghanistan.  MOD and MFA officials confirmed 
to us that the overall total number of trainers -- military 
and Carabinieri -- is expected to rise to 500 after this 
increase takes effect.  Italy currently has seven Operational 
Mentor Liaison Teams (OMLTs) and two Police training teams 
(POMLTs) in RC-West with one more POMLT expected to arrive by 
the end of June 2010.  The overall troop level that Italy 
expects to reach by November 2010 remains just under 4,000 
(Ref B).  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (C) MOD Ignazio La Russa called the Ambassador on February 
18 after having spoken to NATO SYG Rasmussen.  He said that 
Rasmussen had made a request for additional trainers for the 
Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) similar to that made 
by SecDef in his February 6-8 visit to Rome (Ref C).  La 
Russa responded that Italy could provide, within the 1,000 
troop increase already pledged in December, 75 additional 
trainers.  Carabinieri and MFA officials later told us that 
35 of these will be institutional military trainers 
(including some Italian Air Force trainers for an Afghan Air 
Force training center in RC-West and Italian Army trainers 
for an infantry academy) and 40 will be Carabinieri.  (Note: 
The GOI has already presented a draft decree to Parliament 
covering the 1,000-troop increase; to add additional trainers 
above this number would require a separate authorization from 
Parliament.  Hence the decision to fold the 75 trainers into 
the current pledge).  MOD is currently considering deploying 
the additional 40 Carabinieri to police training centers in 
Shouz (Farah Province) and in the Kabul region.  When asked 
why the additional Carabinieri will not deploy as POMLTs, 
Carabinieri officials said that they currently lack the 
armored vehicles necessary to do so. 
 
¶3. (C) MOD and MFA officials told us that the total number of 
Italian trainers in Afghanistan is expected to rise to 500 
after this increase takes effect.  The bulk of these are 
Carabinieri trainers and OMLTs.  Along with the UK, Italy 
already has one of the largest OMLT contributions in ISAF, 
with seven OMLTs in RC-West.  MFA and MOD officials 
reiterated to us that this is the maximum they can currently 
provide, given the fact that Italian OMLTs are larger than 
most (about 30-40 pax compared to 15-30 for the average ISAF 
OMLT) and each one has to be formed from the staff of an 
existing Italian regiment or battalion, incapacitating it and 
removing it from the roster of units deployable overseas. 
Given its large overseas deployment posture (over 9,000 
troops, with large deployments in Afghanistan, Kosovo and 
Lebanon), Italy needs all deployable units at full strength 
in order to meet the 1,000 troop pledge it has made in 
Afghanistan. 
 
¶4. (C) With regard to police training, Italy has pledged 200 
Carabinieri (including 3 POMLTs) to the NATO Training Mission 
in Afghanistan (NTM-A) and a Carabinieri General holds the 
one-star Combined Training Advisory Group (Police) Command 
within NTM-A.  Of this 200, 180 are currently on the ground 
(60 at the ANCOP training center in Adraskan, 20 at NTM-A HQ 
in Kabul; two 20-officer POMLTs in Herat (attached to the 
Regional and Provincial ANP Commands, respectively), 30 each 
at the ANP Central Training Centers in Herat and Kabul).  The 
remaining 20-officer POMLT has yet to be deployed to an ANP 
command in Shindand or Farah, and is slated to arrive when 
the ANP unit is ready to receive it -- probably by the end of 
June.  Finally, Italy has another 40 or so Carabinieri in 
Afghanistan deployed outside of NTM-A as EUPOL mentors, 
 
ROME 00000195  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
military police, forensic investigators and force protection. 
THORNE