The U.S. military is currently planning on a U.S. and NATO presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014. The complete 'withdrawal' of troops by the end of 2014, as often cited in news reports, refers to 'combat' troops. Troops remaining after 2014 will be designated as 'non-combat' troops.
While no firm plans have been confirmed by NATO or the U.S., the U.S. military is planning on having 'non-combat' troops remain in Afghanistan after 2014. These non-combat troops would be involved in training and supporting Afghan military personnel, providing counter-terrorism activities, and other tough assignments on foreign soil.
Below are excerpts from an article in the Stars and Stripes:
Tittle: No plans for complete withdrawal from Afghanistan, ISAF general says
By Josh Smith, Stars and Stripes (September 3, 2013)
QUOTE
The commander of NATO ground forces in Afghanistan says there has been no discussions that the coalition would completely withdraw after 2014, despite continued uncertainty in political negotiations over the future of the international military effort.
U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Mark Milley, the No. 2 commander for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, calls the term “withdrawal” a misnomer.
“We have no indication whatsoever of a withdrawal completely from Afghanistan,” he told Stars and Stripes in a Monday interview at his headquarters in Kabul. “We are going to change our mission, and we are going to reduce in size and scope.”
“The current NATO mandate ends on 31 December 2014, but there’s another mission that follows that called Resolute Support which is currently in planning,” he said.
There have been no signals given that U.S. troop levels will drop to zero, Milley said. “We haven’t been told to plan for that.”
UNQUOTE
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