WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates has approved the deployment of a combat aviation brigade to Afghanistan early next year, as the military begins a substantial build-up of forces there, The Associated Press has learned.
The decision will send close to 3,000 additional U.S. forces into the country, and will begin to meet an urgent need for combat and transport helicopters, according to a senior defense official. Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces, has asked for at least 20,000 more troops to combat the escalating violence, particularly in eastern and southern Afghanistan.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the deployment has not yet been announced.
Gates signed the order Thursday, just days after he returned from a trip to Afghanistan and Iraq, where he met with his top military leaders. During the stop in Afghanistan, Gates reaffirmed his commitment to meet McKiernan's request for more troops.
Officials acknowledge it will take time to get the four combat brigades and thousands of support troops to Afghanistan, as requested by McKiernan. The combat aviation brigade is expected to deploy in early spring, according to the official.
En route to Afghanistan last week, Gates said that the Pentagon is moving to get three of the four combat brigades into Afghanistan by late spring or early summer. The combat aviation brigade, which includes Apache attack helicopters, as well as Black Hawk and Chinook aircraft, is considered support forces and does not fill the need for four combat brigades.
A key need in Afghanistan is medical evacuation aircraft, and these helicopters would address that.
There are currently 31,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, including 14,000 with the NATO-led coalition and 17,000 fighting insurgents and training Afghan forces.
When the additional forces requested by McKiernan are in place, the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan will climb to more than 50,000.
"This is a long fight, and I think we're in it until we are successful along with the Afghan people," Gates said late last week, during his visit to Kandahar to meet with McKiernan. "I do believe there will be a requirement for sustained commitment here for some protracted period of time. How many years that is and how troops that is I think nobody knows at this point."
He and McKiernan said a key goal in the coming years is to build up the Afghan security forces. McKiernan told reporters that it will be at least three or four years before the Afghan forces are capable of operating more independently.
Officials have indicated that the bulk of the added U.S. combat brigades will be sent to the southern region, but the aviation brigade will likely operate all over the country. A combat brigade includes roughly 3,500 troops, while aviation brigades are a bit smaller.