_________The term aide-de-camp has appeared in five articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on July 12 in “Young Afghan General Tries to Overhaul Police With American Way of War” by Thomas Gibbons-Neff:General Sadat’s quick rise, without the close familial ties with high-ranking government officials that usually ensure promotion in the Afghan military, was noticed. He was picked to attend the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst in England, where he graduated in 2007. In 2009, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top American commander in Afghanistan at the time, quickly took Mr. Sadat, then a major, as his aide-de-camp. General Sadat describes General McChrystal as an important mentor, and his time with the American cemented his reputation as a rising young Afghan leader. But his Western friends and the hard-charging style he and other young officers embraced made them targets for the Afghan president at the time.

Source: New York Times February 20, 2020 13:52 UTC