Word: mcdonnel
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...American trainers. With 700,000 Afghan civilians--out of a population of 27 million--believed to be armed, new recruits have plenty of experience at target practice. Getting guns for practice, however, is another matter. "Believe it or not, we have difficulty getting weapons here," says Lieut. Colonel Kevin McDonnel, commander of the American special-forces battalion tasked with training the nucleus of the army. The privates often have to settle for weapons simulation. During practice, they yell "Bang!" instead of firing blanks. As TIME has reported, U.S. troops have raided Afghan villages hoarding Taliban weapons to get guns...
...them soldiers or find them other work. (Barialai also wants a bigger army than the 60,000 envisioned by the Americans; his immediate boss, Fahim, wants any force to include his troops.) The U.S. trainers, at least, are highly motivated to succeed, knowing their homecoming depends on it. Says McDonnel: "If you ask me to compare this to places where we've done this before, I'd say there's a lot more at stake here because this must succeed. This mission is a must-win thing." Another key but difficult goal is creating an army that ordinary Afghans--from...