KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, June 9, 2014 – Marine Corps 1st Lt. Manuel Ruiz is helping Afghanistan’s national security forces learn about accountability.

Ruiz is a Miami native who serves as officer in charge of the NATO-based End Use Monitoring Program and as platoon commander with Landing Support Company, Combat Logistics Regiment 37, 3rd Marine Division, currently serving here with the International Security Assistance Force’s Regional Command South.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2013 – In a Pentagon meeting with Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks today, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel commended Latvia for its steadfast participation in International Security Assistance Force operations in Afghanistan and for the energy and perspective that Latvia and its Baltic counterparts have brought to NATO, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said.

In a statement summarizing the meeting, Little said Hagel and Pabriks reiterated their countries' commitment to supporting security and stability in Afghanistan beyond 2014.

KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept. 13, 2013 – Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter arrived at the International Security Forces Joint Command Headquarters here today for meetings with senior U.S., NATO and Afghan officials to review the progress of the drawdown.

The Afghanistan retrograde is on schedule to meet the December 2014 deadline, a senior defense official said Sept. 10 during a background briefing for Pentagon reporters. The official added that Carter would use the trip as an opportunity to get a boots-on-the-ground perspective of the retrograde process.

By Amaani Lyle
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2013 – Afghanistan’s national security forces are better-equipped, better-trained and better-led than ever before, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force’s Regional Command-South told Pentagon reporters via satellite today.

Army Maj. Gen. Robert B. Abrams said his command has worked with Afghan partners to develop an active-layered security framework, focusing on population centers in Kandahar, Zabul and Uruzgan provinces.