U.S. targets illiteracy among Afghan forces

The U.S. military is mounting a massive effort to help teach Afghan soldiers and police to read after concluding that literacy is "the essential enabler" to the local security forces' success, writes Andrew Tilghman in Army Times. The literacy rate for incoming Afghan army and police recruits is about 14% to 18%, according to Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, head of the NATO-led effort to train the Afghan national security forces. The literacy training is vital in creating reliable army and police forces, which are viewed as essential to the U.S. mission in Afghanistan.

Overall literacy rates in Afghanistan are among the lowest in the world, according to a report by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. For further information, read the full Army Times article.