Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force - Afghanistan or CJSOTF-A is a task force unit lead by US Army Special Forces. It's headquartered at Bagram Airfield and is part of the Special Operations Joint Task Force - Afghanistan / NATO Special Operations Component Command - Afghanistan. The core tasks of CJSOTF-A include advising the Afghan National Army’s special operations forces and local police, and training forces associated with the Village Stability Operations (VSO) and counterinsurgency (COIN) - a strategy that establishes expanding security and stability in rural villages. The unit also controls highly specialized battalion-level task forces built around US Army Special Forces, Infantry, Marine Special Operators and Navy SEALs. JOINT TASK FORCES CONCEPT. The concept of Combined Joint Task Forces (CJTF) provides flexible and efficient means to enable the Alliance to generate forces at short notice, providing rapidly deployable, multi-national, multi- service task forces with appropriate command and control arrangements. The Special Operations Joint Task Force - Afghanistan (SOJTF-A) is the United States component of the NATO Special Operations Component Command - Afghanistan (NSOCC-A). The commander of NSOCC-A is also the commander of SOJTF-A - a dual-hat command arrangement. 1. This division-level headquarters is commanded by a two-star general and encompasses all in-country NATO special operations forces and assets. The SOJTF-A mission spans the entire spectrum of special operations in a counterterrorist and a counterinsurgent environment. The missions range from direct action to capacity-building to Security Force Assistance. Personnel Strength. In mid-2013 the number of personnel assigned to SOJTF-A/NSOCC-A was close to 13,000 special operators, staff, and support personnel from over 25 different nations. It is estimated that the combined NATO / U.S. military force at the start of Resolute Support in January 2015 will be about 12,000 troops; of which a fraction (25%?) will be SOF associated units. In December 2014 the CJSOTF-A was downsized and replaced by a Special Operations Task Force of battalion strength commanded by a LTC. Afghan Partner Units. The special operations forces work with a variety of Afghan units from the police and army to include the Afghan National Army Special Forces (ANASF), Afghan National Army Commandos, Special Mission Wing (SMU), Provincial Response Companies (PRCs), General Directorate Special Police Units (GDSPU), Afghan Local Police (ALP), and other lesser known highly-specialized direct action units. Uniting the "Tribes". SOJTF-A is a newly formed organization. Prior to 2012 the various U.S. and NATO SOF components were answering to different bosses. There was the Combined Joint Special Operations Component Command - Afghanistan (CFSOCC-A) that had command of most of the 'white SOF' (most under the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force - Afghanistan or CJSOTF-A). There was ISAF SOF who worked with various elite Afghan police units like the GDPSU and the Provincial Response Companies. And then there were some other chaps that did a lot of direct action stuff at night (as in night raids). SOJTF-A Commanders. The first commander of the SOJTF-A was Major General Tony Thomas. He changed command with Major General Scott Miller in the summer of 2013 (a former CFSOCC-A commander). MG Miller was replace in the summer of 2014 with MG Ed Reeder (also a former CFSOCC-A commander). In the summer of 2015 MG Sean P. Swindell replaced Reeder. Like all good SOF units the SOJTF-A has a commander's challenge coin. 

A NINJA (Japanese: 忍者, lit. 'one who is invisible'; [ɲiꜜɲdʑa]) or shinobi (Japanese: 忍び, lit. 'one who sneaks'; [ɕinobi]) was a covert agent, mercenary, or guerrilla warfare expert in feudal Japan. The functions of a ninja included siege and infiltration, ambush, reconnaissance, espionage, deception, and later bodyguarding and their fighting skills in martial arts, including ninjutsu. Their covert methods of waging irregular warfare were deemed dishonorable and beneath the honor of the samurai.[2] Though shinobi proper, as specially trained warriors, spies, and mercenaries, appeared in the 15th century during the Sengoku period,[3] antecedents may have existed as early as the 12th century. In the unrest of the Sengoku period, jizamurai families, that is, elite peasant-warriors, in Iga Province and the adjacent Kōka District formed ikki - "revolts" or "leagues" - as a means of self-defense. They became known for their military activities in the nearby regions and sold their services as mercenaries and spies. It is from these areas that much of the knowledge regarding the ninja is drawn. Following the unification of Japan under the Tokugawa shogunate in the 17th century, the ninja faded into obscurity. A number of shinobi manuals, often based on Chinese military philosophy, were written in the 17th and 18th centuries, most notably the Bansenshūkai (1676). By the time of the Meiji Restoration (1868), shinobi had become a topic of popular imagination and mystery in Japan. Ninja figured prominently in legend and folklore, where they were associated with legendary abilities such as invisibility, walking on water and control over natural elements. Much of their perception in popular culture is based on such legends and folklore, as opposed to the covert actors of the Sengoku period.

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