Ali Ahmad Jalali is a former Afghan Army Colonel. A distinguished graduate of the Military University in Kabul, he has also attended the Infantry Officers Advanced Course in Fort Benning, Georgia; the British Army Staff College in Camberley; the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California; the Frunze Academy in Moscow and the Institute of World Politics in Washington, DC. He taught in the Military Academy and advanced military schools in Kabul. He joined the Mujahideen in 1980 and served as the top military planner on the directing staff of the Islamic Unity of Afghan Mujahideen (an alliance of three moderate Mujahideen factions) during the early 1980s before he joined Voice of America (VOA). As a journalist, he has covered Central Asia and Afghanistan over the past 15 years. He is the author of several books including works on the Soviet Military, works on Central Asia and a three-volume Military History of Afghanistan.