President Barack Obama is set to announce a troop surge to Afghanistan tonight -- and if the latest reports are correct, the president's plan will call for a rapid, six-month buildup.
And that asks the question: How does the U.S. military expect to get an additional 30,000 or so troops to Afghanistan in such short order? This is not Iraq, where the United States had the benefit of a massive staging area just over the border in Kuwait. As Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. general in the region recently put it, the lack of infrastructure in Afghanistan presents "major challenges."
Some of the groundwork for additional forces, however, has already been laid. Late this summer, I reported from Bagram Airfield, the main logistics hub for northern and eastern Afghanistan. A tremendous construction boom was already underway: The U.S. military has poured around $220 million into upgrading the place, building new dormitories, supply points and roads. The airfield, already home to around 20,000 service personnel, was taking on an even more permanent look.
The same seems to be true for Kandahar Airfield, the main southern hub. I don't have the latest round-dollar figures for Kandahar upgrades, but a quick glance at the latest solicitations shows potential contract awards for new runway construction worth as much as $100 million. New maintenance buildings, fuel depots and postal facilities are also springing up around the country.
Getting troops to Afghanistan is the easier part. The real challenge will be getting around within the country. NATO commanders have complained for years about a lack of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft in Afghanistan, and they will face even more demand for medical evacuation, resupply and close air support. Some help is on the way: The Marines are deploying MV-22 Osprey tiltrotors from Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261. In theory, the Osprey will cut down the commute time between Kandahar Airfield, the main southern hub for U.S. and coalition forces, and forward operating bases like Bastion/Leatherneck and Dwyer.
Of course, it's impossible to boost security in southern Afghanistan without looking across the border to Quetta, in Pakistan's Baluchistan Province -- where the Taliban maintains a headquarters and recruitment center. However, according to Josh Rogin at The Cable, the administration is likely to soft-pedal the Pakistan side of the equation when rolling out the new strategy.
But Pakistan is also part of the logistics trail. Diplomats have been quietly at work on northern routes of supply for Afghanistan operations, but much in Afghanistan will depend on securing the transport corridor between the Torkham Gate and the port of Karachi.
Photo: U.S. Department of Defense
See Also:
- Army Researchers Warn Against Tribal War in Afghanistan
- Karzai 'Wins' a 2nd Term in Afghanistan. Oh, Crap
- More Troops to Afghanistan, But What Will They Do?
- NATO Wants Sim Afghanistan to Test War Plans
- Afghanistan's Oil Binge: 22 Gallons of Fuel Per Soldier Per Day
- Behind Afghanistan's Deadly Helo Crash
- Fighting Afghanistan's Dumbed-Down — and Deadly — Bombs
- U.S. Struggles with 'Electronic Fratricide' in Afghanistan
