Afghan print plant supports mission

Tag : Reactive Print
Mentoring the AfghanNational Army staff at the Kabul print plant is a great mission,said Maj. Paul Kaster, Combined Security TransitionCommand-Afghanistan ANA communications mentor. But, he says he mayhave worked himself out of a job.

Major Kaster, deployed from MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., said theAfghans running the plant are nearly able to operate independently.

"They have made tremendous gains in a few short years," MajorKaster said. "They run all of the operations. My help is mostly onthe logistical side, but even then, I just give suggestions; theyfind the answers that work for them."

During an average week, the plant produces 15,000 newspapers, 2,500magazines, 50,000 forms, 10,000 targets, 790 books and 400certificates. All of the products are used by the ANA for training,recruitment and logistical support, such as in-processing newsoldiers and tracking equipment or supplies. The plant alsoprovides operational support with vehicle passes and identificationcards.

"It's hard to compare operations at the plant two years ago tooperations today. They recently started tracking metrics, which isa huge accomplishment in itself," Major Kastor said. "I wouldroughly estimate that their production capacity has increasedfivefold."

According to Major Kaster, these numbers are half of the truecapacity of the plant.

"It's more of a demand issue," Major Kaster said. "They can printabout twice as much as they are asked to do. They have some room togrow."

ANA Col. Abdul Hadi, the director of the print plant, explained thehistory of the plant.

"Before we received our new machines in 2005, we did a lot of thework by hand," Colonel Hadi said. "Our machines were very old. Thenew machines have helped us double our output at a better quality."

The old machines were only capable of printing one or two colors,where as the new ones can print up to six colors on one product.The plant also received machines that were capable ofpost-production actions such as folding, binding and stapling.

Colonel Hadi said the products help train and educate the ANA, butalso help communicate important information to the people ofAfghanistan.

"Because we can make notebooks and training material for the ANA,we help make a better force," Colonel Hadi said. "Because we canprint a newspaper and magazine to show the good things the ANA do,we can show the people of Afghanistan the many capabilities oftheir army."

Major Kaster said Colonel Hadi and Col. Said Farooq, director ofmaintenance, have adopted some of the planning and tracking toolshe uses back home, and have improved the way they do business.

"For example, their weekly staff meetings now include solid metricsthat enable them to track past and present use and predict futureuse," Major Kaster said. "Basically, they've gone from reactive toproactive."

Colonel Farooq explained how the plant's products strengthen therelationship between the people of Afghanistan and the ANA. Withthe capability of the print plant growing, so does the ANA'sability to train, recruit and inform the people of Afghanistan onthe great things the Army is accomplishing.

"Students at the university read the stories about theaccomplishments of the ANA and want to join, then the force becomesstronger," Colonel Farooq said. "We are building a bridge betweenthe ANA and the people."

Most American servicemembers take printing for granted; if theyneed a form or a publication, they download it or grab it from ashelf, or if they need a notebook, they get it from supply, MajorKaster said.

"None of that exists in Afghanistan," Major Kaster said. "Everyform, document, book, poster, manual, magazine and newspaper needsto be printed by the ANA itself. This central facility addstremendously to both the quality and efficiency of this process."