What are Regional Commands (RC) in Afghanistan?

UPDATE: In June 2010, ISAF added new Regional Command Southwest (RC SW). With the majority of ISAF forces based in southern Afghanistan, this new RC allows commands to focus on geographically smaller areas.

The new Regional Command SW splits up Regional Command South into two areas:

• RC Southwest – Helmand and Nimroz Provinces
• RC South  – Kandahar, Zabul, Uruzgan, and Daykundi Provinces

Original article written – March 26,2010
You may have read about or heard your soldier mention RC North, RC South, RC East, or RC West. RC refers to Regional Command areas in Afghanistan. There are five regional commands under the operational control of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

There is a lead nation for each Regional Command that has responsibility for coordinating all regional civil-military activities conducted by the military elements of the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs). A Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) is a unit introduced by the United States government, consisting of military officers, diplomats, and reconstruction subject matter experts, working to support reconstruction efforts in unstable states. PRTs were first established in Afghanistan in late 2001 or early 2002.

Each Regional Commands includes the following:

• Command and Control (C2) Headquarters
• Forward Support Base (FSB) that is an essential logistic installation, created to provide supply, medical and transport hub in each region to assist the PRTs in their mission to extend the Government of Aghanistan’s authority.

The following lists the Regional Commands in Afghanistan. Each listing includes the location (city, province) and lead country (given in parentheses) for each command region. For example, if the listing is: Lashkar-Gah, Helmand (Britain), then the city is Lashkar-Gah, the province is Helmand, and the lead country is Britain.

RC (C) – Regional Command Capital (France)
C2 HQ: Kabul (France)
FSB: Kabul International Airport (KAIA) (Hungary)

RC (S) – Regional Command South (The Netherlands):
C2 HQ: Kandahar (UK)
FSB: Kandahar Airfield
Kandahar, Kandahar (The Netherlands)
Lashkar-Gah, Helmand (Britain)
Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan (Netherlands)
Qalat, Zabol (Romania, USA)

RC (N) – Regional Command North (Germany):
C2 HQ: Mazar-e-Sharif (Germany)
FSB: Mazar-e-Sharif (Germany)
Kunduz, Kunduz Province (Germany)
Mazar-e Sharif, Balkh (Sweden)
Feyzabad, Badakhshan (Germany)
Pol-e Khomri, Baghlan (Hungary)
Meymaneh, Faryab (Norway)

RC (W) – Regional Command West (Italy):
C2 HQ: Herat (Italy)
FSB: Herat (Spain)
Herat, Herat (Italy)
Farah, Farah (USA)
Qala-e Naw, Badghis (Spain)
Chaghcharan, Gowr (Lithuania)

RC (E) – Regional Command East (United States):
C2 HQ: Bagram (US)
FSB: Bagram (US)
Bamyan, Bamyan (New Zealand)
Bagram, Parwan (USA)
Nurestan, Nurestan (USA)
Panjshir, Panjshir (USA)
Gardez, Paktia (USA)
Ghazni, Ghazni (Poland, USA)
Khowst, Khowst (USA)
Sharan, Paktika (USA)
Jalalabad, Nangarhar (USA)
Asadabad, Kunar (USA)
Mihtarlam, Laghman (USA)
Wardak, Wardak (Turkey)
Logar, Logar (Czech Republic)