Afstan: New US Marines, Army aviation, start arriving; US command structure changes?

1) The Marines are having some difficulty getting their kit in:

Gates: Afghan-bound US troops outpacing equipment

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan -- Thousands of U.S. troops are being rushed to Afghanistan without the equipment they will need to fight an emboldened Taliban, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and military officials said Thursday.

The equipment delay is "a considerable concern," Gates said as he toured a dusty forward base in south Afghanistan where some 200 newly deployed Marines and sailors [Seabees, one assumes; Grimmy, in "Comments", says USN medical personnel] are arriving each day as part of the buildup of 21,000 new U.S. troops.

Marines who arrived in southern Afghanistan this week mark the vanguard of the expansion Obama has ordered to reverse a war his commanders say they are not winning. Pentagon officials said the initial Marine units are small advance parties, to be followed by much larger waves of forces in the coming weeks. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to describe troop movements.

"I heard this on several occasions today, that the equipment is coming in behind the troops and is not here and available for them when they arrive," Gates said at a news conference Thursday night in Kabul before a fly-around through bases in Afghanistan.

Gates attributed the delays to "the amount of equipment that has to be brought in and, frankly, the relatively limited infrastructure in terms of airfields and so on of how to get it in here."

Despite concerns about pressing U.S. military needs in Iraq and insurgents' interference with supply lines, the real problem has been "more a logistical challenge than it is anything else," Gates said. He promised to pursue the problem after he returns to Washington on Saturday...

As for Camp Leatherneck:

A huge U.S. military camp is taking shape in the baking heat of southern Afghanistan for thousands of extra U.S. troops charged with defeating a resurgent Taliban.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Camp Leatherneck, with concrete blast walls and semi-cylinder sand-colored tents, on Thursday as he surveyed preparations for what will be the biggest wave yet in a year that is seeing U.S. troop numbers doubled.

The camp is being constructed in Helmand province next to a British base, Camp Bastion, as Marines and other forces dramatically expand their presence in the most violent area of Afghanistan and heartland of the Taliban movement.

Construction workers clambered on the wooden frame of a new headquarters building as Gates spoke at the camp, where the majority of more than 8,000 marines now flowing into southern Afghanistan are expected be based.

A huge U.S. military camp is taking shape in the baking heat of southern Afghanistan for thousands of extra U.S. troops charged with defeating a resurgent Taliban.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Camp Leatherneck, with concrete blast walls and semi-cylinder sand-colored tents, on Thursday as he surveyed preparations for what will be the biggest wave yet in a year that is seeing U.S. troop numbers doubled.

The camp is being constructed in Helmand province next to a British base, Camp Bastion, as Marines and other forces dramatically expand their presence in the most violent area of Afghanistan and heartland of the Taliban movement.

Construction workers clambered on the wooden frame of a new headquarters building as Gates spoke at the camp, where the majority of more than 8,000 marines now flowing into southern Afghanistan are expected be based...

The marines at Camp Leatherneck are also building a giant parking area for helicopters and airplanes by laying down a mat of metal alloy on the desert floor. With a length of 4,860 feet a width of 318 feet, the mat will be the second largest of its kind in the world and the biggest in a combat zone [emphasis added], said Marine Lieutenant Colonel David Jones, commander of the Marine Wing Support Squadron 371, based in Yuma, Arizona [see 2/3 down this post for more on Marine helicopters]...

"We are now resourcing our counterinsurgency appropriately," said U.S. Army Brigadier General John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in southern Afghanistan.

"Our allies have done the heavy lifting for us in the southern region for a long time," he added. "The Brits, the Canadians, the Dutch have taken a lot of casualties [emphasis added]."..

It looks like the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade coming to Helmand will have a pretty good airfield for its accompanying aviation, including Harriers [leaving US for Afstan tomorrow] and Ospreys [see Update here]. The brigade's regimental combat team has five battalions (four infantry, one light armored reconnaissance)--so seems similar to the US Army Stryker brigade combat team coming to Kandahar [start of this post]. An Army combat aviation brigade is now deploying to Kandahar:

...The 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade headquarters flew out of Pope Air Force Base on Friday [May 7] on its way to Kandahar...

And note where an Army brigade combat team to train Afghans will be stationed:

The Pentagon announced April 3 that 3,300 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division brigade will go to Afghanistan in late summer. The brigade will take part in the “training and mentoring” of Afghan National Security Forces, including army, national police and border police...

The 4th Brigade Combat Team, which is built around the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, will deploy for a year and will operate in NATO’s Regional Command West, based in Herat, and Regional Command South, based in Kandahar [emphasis added]...

2) While the Americans are looking to beef up their command structure and modify deployment practices:

In Afghanistan conflict, Pentagon considers structural changes
The increase in U.S. troop numbers requires a larger headquarters operation, military experts say. Changes in deployment cycles are also being considered.

The Obama administration's emphasis on the war in Afghanistan, including an influx of additional troops, has exposed weaknesses in U.S. military planning that top officers are scrambling to address.

The U.S. military command structure in Afghanistan was designed for a much smaller force. But with the increase ordered by President Obama, the number of U.S. troops will rise to 60,000 by the end of summer and is expected to reach 68,000; NATO troops are increasing to 35,000. The U.S.-led force needs a larger headquarters operation, military officials and experts said.

Some officials favor assigning a second commanding general with a large staff of officers -- similar to the approach taken when the number of troops was increased in Iraq in 2007.

The second general would coordinate U.S. and coalition military operations, enabling the current commander, Gen. David D. McKiernan, to work on efforts to train the Afghan military and improve government services.

"You need a general who is, day-to-day, committed to the fight -- an operational commander -- and a general who is, day-to-day, committed to the governance," said a senior Defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the proposal is still under discussion...

The Pentagon also is considering a radical shift in deployment cycles, assigning key leaders and planners to Afghanistan for as long as five years. They would be rotated in and out in nine-month stints, and probably would be placed in the same locations and jobs each time...

More from the Wall St. Journal:

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is expected to bolster the U.S. military leadership in Afghanistan by appointing a three-star general to Kabul, according to senior defense officials. The move underscores growing concern in the military over the course of the conflict and marks the first time since the seven-year war began that the U.S. will have two senior commanders there.

The appointment of Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez, who holds the military's second-highest rank [other than five-star, none these days], hasn't been announced publicly, and his exact role in Kabul is still being discussed. He was chosen by Mr. Gates last year to be his personal military assistant after a widely praised tour as a division commander in eastern Afghanistan...

Gen. McKiernan is now double-hatted as ISAF commander (reporting to NATO HQ) and commander, United States Forces-Afghanistan (reporting to Centcom commander, Gen. Petraeus). That provides a bit of command unity, though hardly ideal. If the Lt.-Gen. is "day-to-day, committed to the fight -- an operational commander", would he be de facto in charge of both ISAF and USFOR-A? Would McKiernan keep ISAF with Rodriguez taking USFOR-A? In which case what about unity of command?

Moreover, would "a second commanding general with a large staff of officers", presumably as part of USFOR-A, in effect supplant ISAF as the real HQ for forces formally under NATO? All a bit confusin', must be a lot of buzzing going on at Brussels.

Update thought: Is there a corps headquarters under a three-star, in the Kabul area, of some sort in mind with charge of operations (cf. the Multi-National Corps - Iraq)? In Iraq the broader picture is the job of the four-star in command of the Multi-National Force - Iraq. But international operations in Iraq have one chain of command; those in Afstan have two, so the Iraqi model cannot be applied holus-bolus. Round holes and square pegs.