U.S. Plans Expansion of Afghan Airfield To House Special Army Aviation Unit

[fatman17]

U.S. Plans Expansion of Afghan Airfield To House Special Army Aviation Unit

The Bush administration's plans to increase the U.S. military role in Afghanistan include a $100 million expansion next year of the Kandahar airfield, to accommodate aircraft working for Task Force ODIN, the once-secret Army fighting units that have been successful in Iraq.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, according to a notice issued Thursday, has set Wednesday as the "tentative" date for putting out the contract to design and build a secure area for the aircraft. It will have facilities, hangars, ramps and taxiways "for up to twenty-six (26) generic Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft with shelters at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan."

Task Force ODIN -- the acronym derives from "observe, detect, identify and neutralize" -- is named for the chief Norse god of art, culture, war and the dead. The Army put the ODIN concept together last year to tackle the problem of roadside explosions, which had become the main method of attacking military and truck convoys. In September, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates told Congress that he wanted to replicate the ODIN units in Afghanistan as soon as possible.

ODIN began with a small, sensor-carrying civilian aircraft, the Beech C-12, and a variety of unmanned surveillance vehicles equipped with night-vision, infrared and full-motion video. The entire team was linked to infantry units and Apache attack helicopters armed with missiles and machine guns.


Newer ODIN units involve as many as 400 personnel. The C-12 aircraft carry analysts with monitors and other equipment that allows them to supply real-time video and data to troops on the ground and Apache helicopters in the air. One system can provide data that show changes over time in the roadways over which the aircraft fly, which could indicate the presence of buried explosives. Another provides a critical link between sensors and shooters in the air or on the ground.

On Oct. 29, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters, "You're going to see a whole Task Force ODIN set up in Afghanistan." Its basic mission, Morrell said, was "to better help the commanders on the ground particularly protect the Ring Road, which is such a vital lifeline in Afghanistan for commerce and transport and governance."

The reconstruction of the Ring Road, the 2,000-mile highway linking all the major cities in Afghanistan, is nearly complete. From Kandahar airfield in the south, Task Force ODIN will be able to protect roads from Pakistan that extend into central Afghanistan, over which increasing numbers of truck convoys will travel.

Because Afghanistan is landlocked, bringing food, military supplies, equipment and ammunition to the growing U.S. military force has become a major problem. In July, the Army advertised for private contractors to provide armed security to convoys coming from seaports in Pakistan.

Until then, according to the Army notice, the U.S. military had provided "armed escort security for the delivery of strategic unit cargo." The "hostile combat environments" in Pakistan and Afghanistan were cited as a reason for the armed security. The military is turning to contracting security convoy guards because it needs the soldiers who have been protecting shipments to fight the Taliban.

Supply line difficulties continue to grow as the Pentagon plans to send in more troops. Last month, the Army put out another notice, this one seeking ideas for transportation of cargo to Afghanistan from northern Europe or the continental United States through the Caucasus, Asia or Central Asia. The proposal even included "other possible innovative routing . . . which may include air transportation."

It is against that backdrop that the Kandahar expansion will be expedited. The winning contractor is expected to complete the job in 270 days, according to the notice. Release of the proposal is tentative, and so are the dates for submitting bids and for announcing the winner, Dec. 12 and Jan. 15, respectively.

The tentativeness is because funds for the project "are not yet available," according to the notice.

"It's money being reprogrammed from other projects and will have to be approved by the House and Senate armed services and appropriations committees," a congressional aide said.

National security and intelligence reporter Walter Pincus pores over the speeches, reports, transcripts and other documents that flood Washington and every week uncovers the fine print that rarely makes headlines -- but should. If you have any items that fit the bill, please send them tofineprint@washpost.com.

 

[Prodigy17]

Well, i guess it answers the questions regarding american plans for the future. By the way, anyone with some insight into the conflict did not predict that US will soon be leaving af-tan so this article benefits mainly those who doubted it.

 

[fatman17]

Pakistan supply line attacks show US vulnerability

By CHRIS BRUMMITT

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) — The Humvee sped along the dry riverbed, kicking up clouds of dust. But al-Qaida-linked militants — not American soldiers — were behind the wheel.

The scene was captured by AP Television News shortly after about 60 insurgents in northwestern Pakistan hijacked a convoy of trucks carrying vehicles for U.S. troops in Afghanistan as well as wheat for hungry Afghans.

The bold, well-planned attack Monday demonstrated the growing power of Muslim extremists in the lawless border region, where top al-Qaida leaders — including Osama bin Laden — are believed to be hiding.

It also highlighted the vulnerability of the supply line U.S. and NATO troops rely on for up to 75 percent of their fuel, food and other logistical goods in the landlocked country.

NATO is close to reaching deals with Central Asian countries north of Afghanistan that would allow the alliance to truck in "non-lethal" supplies from there, a spokesman said.

It has already reached a similar agreement with Russia that remains in force despite tensions triggered by the Georgia conflict earlier this year.

But for now, the only major land routes to the country are two mountainous roads through Pakistan — a U.S. ally, but one that some argue does not want to see the war in Afghanistan succeed because of competing strategic interests.

"It's not too much of a stretch to ask why the Pakistan military is failing to defend these convoys," said Shaun Gregory, from the Pakistan Security Research Unit at the University of Bradford in Britain. "These attacks allow Pakistan to keep its finger on NATO's jugular."

Truck drivers say ambushes, looting and hijackings appeared to have spiked recently, but a NATO spokesman in Afghanistan said the attacks were having "no impact" on its operations there.

In Washington, two U.S. officials said neither equipment nor ammunition were running short.

"Where you have a big concern is when commanders start asking 'Is this affecting me?'" said one of the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media. "'Am I having trouble flying as many helicopters because of those engines? Did I have to pull back on an offensive operation because of that ammunition?' And right now, the answer is no."

The supplies arrive at the port of Karachi on Pakistan's Arabian Sea coast in anonymous, sealed shipping containers and are loaded onto trucks for the journey either to the border town of Chaman or the primary route, through the famed Khyber Pass.

Monday's ambush took place at the entrance to the pass, a winding, roughly 30-mile stretch of switch-backs used by Moghul armies to invade the Indian subcontinent and by British colonial forces on doomed missions to subdue Afghanistan.

Police said around 60 masked militants forced the convoy to stop on a slow stretch of the road, briefly trading fire with nearby security officers who were outnumbered.

U.S. officials say the attackers seized two Humvees and a water truck. Eleven other trucks in the convoy carrying wheat for the World Food Program were also hijacked, said spokesman Amjad Jamal.

"Whatever they see going along the road, they loot and burn," said Jamal, who said 650 metric tons of WFP wheat had been stolen on the road in the last four weeks. "They assume everything is going to the U.S. forces."

The video shot after the hijacking showed militants riding one of the Humvees and carrying a flag proclaiming allegiance to Pakistan's most prominent Taliban leader, Baitullah Mehsud, who is accused in the assassination of pro-U.S. politician Benazir Bhutto last year.

Some of the trucks have been found abandoned, but their contents were still missing Thursday, police said. There was no trace of the distinctive Humvees.

Many — perhaps most — of the attackers are bandits rather than militants. In markets in Khyber, which abuts the main northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar, U.S. and NATO supplies such as boots, camouflage uniforms and rucksacks are openly sold.

The hijacking comes amid tensions between Islamabad and Washington, which faced with rising violence in Afghanistan has unleashed a surge of missile attacks on suspected militant bases in Pakistan.

Hard-line Muslim leaders and many ordinary Pakistanis want their government to sever its alliance with the United States, which gives Islamabad millions of dollars each year in exchange for its support.

The government says it had no plans to deny permission for U.S. and NATO to truck the goods through its territory as some here demand — a move that could cripple the war.

In Karachi, truck drivers recount tales of threats and regular attacks during the four-day trip to Afghanistan. "I am terrified each time I get past Peshawar, danger looms large," said Khan Zeb, who was preparing to make another trip — one of around 300 each day from the city's port. "I don't have any other option if I want to feed my family."

Associated Press writers Pauline Jelinek in Washington, Slobodan Lekic in Brussels and Ashraf Khan in Karachi contributed to this story.