DoD: 82nd CAB heading to Afghanistan - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

DoD: 82nd CAB heading to Afghanistan

The 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade has received orders to deploy to Afghanistan in the spring, just slightly more than 12 months after its 2,800 soldiers redeployed from their last rotation in Afghanistan.

The decision by Defense Secretary Robert Gates was made on the recommendation of ground commanders, according to a Pentagon news release and was announced Monday.

The deployment of the 82nd Airborne Division unit based at Fort Bragg, N.C., signals the start of a buildup of combat forces in Afghanistan where a greater number of support enablers, such as aviation assets, will be needed.

Gates has said he will make up to three more brigade combat teams available.

Gen. David McKiernan, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces, has asked for 20,000 more troops to combat the escalating violence in eastern and southern Afghanistan and comments over the weekend by Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff indicate that an even higher number could be sent by summer.

Gates signed the order Dec. 18, upon returning 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.

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 includes Apache attack helicopters, Black Hawks and Chinooks.

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 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 many 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.

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Associated Press contributed to this story.