KAF: US Army combat aviation brigade formally in place/Apache hysteria

Canwest News story (once again illustrating our media's shallow grasp of certain things military):

Additional 17,000 troops good news for Canadian soldiers
Members of the 82nd combat aviation Brigade arrive at Kandahar airfield on Friday. their presence quadruples the coalition forces' helicopter capacity in southern afghanistan [sic].

The first wave in a massive surge of American troops to southern Afghanistan has arrived, bringing old-fashioned pageantry, modern-day hardware and big promises to a region struggling to beat back a stub-born insurgency.

The North Carolina-based 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade was introduced at this large airbase Friday, in front of a crowd of coalition soldiers and a smattering of civilian dignitaries.

[Photos here:

On display behind some of the brigade's 3,200 soldiers were American attack, reconnaissance, transport and medi-vac helicopters.

"We're bringing plenty of firepower to help (in southern Afghanistan)," the brigade's commander, Col. Paul Bricker, told a group of Canadian and Afghan reporters later. "We're bringing four times (more helicopter) capacity" to the area.

"And right behind us is a marines aviation force [sic, see here]."

Also on the way is a U. S. Stryker division [brigade, dear reporter, brigade] of light-armoured land vehicles [anyone expect sea vehicles?] and a combat infantry team [??? maybe the Marine Expeditionary Brigade deploying to Helmand with a regimental combat team, see halfway down Marine link above]. All told, some 17,000 additional U. S. troops have been assigned to southern Afghanistan and many will be based in Kandahar.

This is good news for over-extended Canadian troops-- whose numbers in Kandahar approach 3,000--which has been proven inadequate for se-curing and helping re-develop the war-ravaged province...

His combat aviation brigade brings a crucial ingredient for coalition success in Afghanistan: speed.

Bricker says his helicopters will be used to rapidly secure areas in southern Afghanistan under Taliban control, and to quickly bring relief, supplies, and medical care to ISAF and Afghan troops already on the ground and fighting from for-ward operating bases and smaller outposts.

These troops will include Canadians, to whom Bricker paid tribute.

Canada's rotary wing forces in Kandahar have been "incredibly helpful in assisting us getting here on the ground and getting our operations up to speed" he said.

Elements of his brigade began arriving in Kandahar last month, and Bricker expects his unit will be at "full capacity" within 60 days [emphasis added]...

The 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade operates a number of helicopters that can quickly bring medical supplies and personnel to wounded soldiers in remote areas of the country, and can airlift them to fully equipped military hospitals such as the Canadian-led Role 3 facility at Kandahar Airfield.

"In extreme cases, we will (also) be moving Afghan people from areas that are remote, to prevent loss of life," he added...

The brigade has 117 rotary wing aircraft, including Apache attack helicopters, Chinook troop and cargo transports, utility Blackhawks and two-seater Kiowas, laden with ordnance.

Bricker would not give a numeric breakdown on type, but did say his brigade has brought "significant number of attack helicopters as well as armed reconnaissance aircraft."

He described how his air-crews will hunt for terrorists, and will spare no mercy on those discovered planting improvised explosive devices. "Rest assured, those folks, we're going to be after them.If you're going to plant IEDS to try to kill coalition and Afghan security forces, we are going to be focused on stopping that."

Bricker also acknowledged that U.S. air strikes have killed Afghan civilians. Loss of civilian life due to the conflict in Afghanistan is all too common, and Bricker insisted his soldiers have been trained to avoid mistaking the innocent for the enemy.

Meanwhile, the up-front Globeite spin, first para:

War choppers are arriving in large number to the skies of southern Afghanistan, even as civilian deaths caused by U.S. air strikes grow increasingly controversial...

For pity's sake. Even the Globe's earnest Jeffrey Simpson is excited:

...as the Obama administration starts driving the mission in Afghanistan with more troops, new equipment (Apache helicopters!)...

Huh? A quote from November 2007--wake up and hear the chain guns, Jeffrey (see here):

...
Aviation assets available to RC South are primarily British, Dutch and U.S., with the British typically having eight Chinook HC2 transport helicopters, eight Longbow Apache [emphases added] attack helicopters and five Lynx Mk. 7 battlefield support helicopters divided between Kandahar Air Field and the main forward operating base in Helmand, Camp Bastion.

The Dutch have three CH-47D Chinooks at Kandahar plus five AH-64D Apaches [emphases added] forward-deployed at Tarin Kowt, Uruzgan.

U.S. Army Aviation has about 100 helicopters in country (including 24 Apaches [emphases added], 25 Chinooks and 50 UH-60 Black Hawks), but many of these are assigned to the 13,900-strong Regional Command East, where most of the 15,100 U.S. troops are based...