The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff completed an extensive visit to Afghanistan, and leaves encouraged by the Afghan and coalition military potential in the country.
Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford and his senior team visited coalition and U.S. Train Advise Assist Commands throughout the nation. He also spoke with senior Afghan, coalition and U.S. officials. He spoke with lance corporals, tech sergeants, lieutenants, commanders and colonels to assess the situation and ensure the U.S. effort in Afghanistan is properly resourced.
He told reporters traveling with him that he is convinced that this fundamentally different approach is the correct way ahead for the Afghan campaign.
The military effort hinges around training, advising and assisting Afghan forces. It also calls for a doubling of Afghan special operations forces and continued growth of the Afghan air force.
The advisory effort is already having an effect with the Afghans being able to leverage coalition air and ground fires and also being able to integrate coalition fires with Afghan fires. “Their ability at the tactical level to conduct combined arms [operations] in conjunction with maneuver will be significantly improved by the advisory effort,” Dunford said.
Afghan Police, Army Coordination
Another equally important development is the Afghan ability to use the network of advisors to facilitate coordination…
