US force deployment schedule in RC South

Latest details--Army combat aviation brigade first (KAF), then Marine expeditionary brigade (Helmand), then Army Stryker brigade combat team (Kandahar, Zabul):

An influx of U.S. troops scheduled to infiltrate the most volatile areas in this country's south is predicted to cause an initial spike in violence, the region's top NATO general says.

Dutch Major-General Mart de Kruif, commander [until November, to be replaced by a Brit] of all international security forces stationed in Afghanistan's six southern provinces, warned a contingent of Afghan journalists yesterday that the addition of nearly 20,000 troops during fighting season might seem jarring for locals. Fresh soldiers will arrive in stages, starting immediately [emphasis added] with a U.S. aviation brigade consisting of about 3,000 troops to be based in Kandahar province and more than 100 much-needed helicopters [more on US helicopters in RC South near end of this post]. By late spring [emphasis added], they will be joined by the massive 8,000-person 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade [total will actually be 10,000 including Marines already there, will be largely in Helmand province] from Camp Lejune, N.C. The final rollout of 4,000 soldiers, drawn from the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team based in Fort Lewis, Wash., will deploy in late summer [emphasis added, mainly to Kandahar province--"More details on what Obama's war will mean for the CF"--also to help Romanians at Zabul].

"You will see an increase in incidents because we will go to places where we have never been before, Gen. de Kruif said, adding: "We will be able to put much more pressure on the insurgents. We will hunt them down in their save havens."

Gen. de Kruif said it could take up to a year to establish security across the region and set the stage for reconstruction and development efforts that have been slowed by ongoing violence.

Update: More precision (via Yrys, my translation from the French):

...
The 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, made up of 8000 men, will be deployed mainly in the center and north of Helmand province [emphasis added] at the end of spring. Lastly, the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, whose 4000 soldiers will arrive in the middle of summer ["late"? "middle"?--still not quite clear], will go to Zabul province as well as the north and south of Kandahar province.

Meanwhile Jessica Leeder of the Globe and Mail tries to scare us about those cowboy Yanks coming to RC South (note that this is story generated by Ms Leeder herself in an interview with Maj.-Gen. de Kruif):

All 15,000 U.S. troops on their way to do battle in southern Afghanistan are being told to dial back their expectations on when they'll be allowed to use force. In an interview with The Globe and Mail yesterday, the Kandahar-based Dutch general who oversees all troops in Afghanistan's six southern provinces said he plans to personally deliver a reminder to all members of the U.S. deployment assigned to join his command that they must be “very reluctant with use of force” in this country...

At a meeting in Kandahar on Sunday, Afghan journalists told Gen. de Kruif that locals are concerned the influx of U.S. troops will result in an increase in violence. At Kandahar Air Field, non-U.S. military personnel, including some Canadian soldiers, have been quietly wondering the same thing. Although it is not something soldiers speak about openly, perceptions exist that U.S. troops are sanctioned to be more cavalier with their weapons.

But Gen. de Kruif said that will not be the case. Citing the fact that for months more than 2,000 U.S. troops have been on the ground operating under his command in conjunction with Canadian and British troops [those are the US Army battalion that is part of the Canadian Task Force Kandahar, and the Special Purpose Marine Air Ground Task Force — Afghanistan already in Helmand], he said: “I don't see anything significantly different with the way they operate and use force than how other coalition forces operate and use force. I don't see any real issue there.”

Still, that won't exempt new U.S. troops from attending a special training session on use of force and related legal issues when they arrive here, he said.