The aviation part of the (maybe very large indeed) US Afghan surge

This has been in the works for some time (Oct. 29: "The pressing needs in Afghanistan include a U.S. aviation brigade...") and is now done:

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has signed a deployment order to send a combat aviation brigade, about 3,000 troops, to Afghanistan in early 2009.

The brigade, from the 82nd Airborne [the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, one assumes--more here], will fulfill one of the critical deficits for U.S. forces in that country right now -- helicopters.

Last week, Gates said he expects to have three more brigade combat teams in Afghanistan by "summertime." A senior defense official said that the combat aviation brigade is not among those brigades mentioned by the secretary (one brigade, the 3rd Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, deploys there in January [see 2) here]).

So, with the addition of this aviation brigade, the three BCTs Gates spoke about last week, and the logistics forces needed to support all of these new troops, the U.S. now plans to send between 21,000 and 25,000 new troops to Afghanistan in 2009.

That nearly doubles the number of U.S. boots on the ground there now, which stands at 31,000.

As for a really big surge:

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The top U.S. military officer said Saturday that the Pentagon could double the number of American forces in Afghanistan by next summer to 60,000--the largest estimate of potential reinforcements ever publicly suggested [emphasis added].

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that between 20,000 and 30,000 additional U.S. troops could be sent to Afghanistan to bolster the 31,000 already there...

Mullen said that increase would include combat forces but also aviation, medical and civilian affairs support troops.

"So some 20,000 to 30,000 is the window of overall increase from where we are right now," he told a news conference at a U.S. base in Kabul. "We certainly have enough forces to be successful in combat, but we haven't had enough forces to hold the territory that we clear [emphasis added]."..

Another country fully committed:

3 Danish soldiers killed, 1 injured in Afghanistan

Three Danish soldiers and one from the Netherlands were killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan on Friday, losing their lives just as the commitment of some countries to the fight in Afghanistan begins to wane.

In Copenhagen, the army said the three Danes were killed and a compatriot badly injured when their armored vehicle drove over a bomb or a land mine in Helmand province – the most dangerous part of Afghanistan.

"Today we lost three Danish soldiers in a tragic way," said Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "It is the biggest single loss for the Danish engagement in southern Afghanistan."

Denmark has about 700 troops in the NATO force in Afghanistan. Twenty-one have been killed since Denmark joined the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan in 2002...

The population of Denmark is one-sixth that of Canada. You do the math for for comparative fatalities on a per capita basis. And there will be a "surge" by the Danes--see Update here.

But another country looks like it may be checking out (and not just from Afstan):

The lower chamber of Czech parliament has failed to extend a mandate for the deployment of the country's troops in Afghanistan, Iraq and other foreign missions for next year, meaning the soldiers will leave soon.

The mandate for as many as 415 Czech servicemen serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, and for another unit of 100 elite troops with the U.S.-led operation against al-Qaida and Taliban fighters, expires by the year's end.

"I am ashamed of the vote," Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek said.

Topolanek said later Friday the government used its constitutional rights and delayed the troops' return home by 60 days, starting Jan 1.

"It is a serious situation," Czech military chief of general staff Lt. Gen. Vlastimil Picek said. "It is a very bad signal for our partners," he said.

Of the 192 lawmakers present in the 200-seat house, only 99 deputies voted to extend the deployment by one more year and to increase the number of troops in Afghanistan by another 230 soldiers. The governing coalition needed 101 to win.

Seventy-five deputies voted against the move, while 18 abstained...

The chamber's decision Friday means the end of all current foreign missions. The 550 troops deployed in the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo — the mission known as KFOR — will have to be withdrawn, as well five officers who were slated to train officers on Iraq for one more year.

The Czech Republic will also not make available next year 229 soldiers for NATO's rapid reaction force or NATO's Response Force and 1,800 more for an EU battle group unit.

Three Czech service members have died in Afghanistan.

Update: It is the 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade going (via Canadian Armed Forces Blogger).