Afghanistan 2006

Abstract

Ian Jones: I first went to the headquarters of ISAF in Kabul in May 2006. As in the other theatres, I had been asked to carry out a survey of the linguistic support, this time at the instigation of its Civilian Personnel Officer, Ron Neervoort, then a civilian working for the headquarters. I had previously met Colonel Neervoort when he was the head of the NATO Defence Manpower Authority, a unit attached to NATO’s International Military Staff in Brussels that carried out management and manpower surveys for the Alliance’s military structure. Some years previously he had asked me to join his team as a technical advisor when they were tasked to carry out a survey of the Linguistic Services in the various peacetime military headquarters. I had been able to bring to that project my knowledge and experience of the operation of linguistic services and, in turn, I learnt a great deal about the methodology used in performing manpower and organization surveys. That experience had helped me in the surveys I carried out in the various theatres of operation. I had been able to work harmoniously with him and his team, and that had apparently encouraged him to call on me to take a closer look at the HQ ISAF Linguistic Service.