Canadian to be deputy commander new ISAF RC South (East)/Brits to Kandahar 2011?

An interesting fact in this story on something else:

...

Brig.-Gen. Andre Corbould...is to become deputy commander for NATO operations in southeastern Afghanistan [emphasis added] this fall...

"Southeastern" because RC South is to be split:

UK troops in Helmand are to come under the command of a US general as part of a major restructuring of Nato forces in Afghanistan due to be announced.

UK forces currently take their orders from British Major General Nick Carter, in charge of operations in the south.

But the region is to be split in two to make it more manageable...

Most UK troops on Afghan operations are based in Helmand province.

An announcement on the changes is expected within days.

With the recent influx of American forces, there are now too many troops in too large a geographical area for just one command, making it unwieldy.

Under the plans agreed between Nato members, Regional Command (RC) South will be divided into RC South-West and RC South (East)...

While Gen Carter will continue to oversee operations in Kandahar [until this fall when a U.S. Army general will take over], he will hand over control of Helmand to a US Marine - expected to be Maj Gen Richard Mills...

Canadian exit plan

Some may interpret the move as the Americans taking over a so-called British sector - and the UK Ministry of Defence will be very anxious to avoid any headlines that suggest the Americans are having to bail out the British.

But Professor Michael Clarke, director of the Royal United Services Institute, a think tank, said the split makes military and administrative sense...

...the move may signal bigger, and more significant changes ahead.

There has been a debate among Nato commanders as to whether British troops should move to Kandahar when the Canadians leave.

Canada has said it is pulling out its troops for good in the summer of 2011.

Transferring British forces from Helmand to Kandahar would prove more controversial - a much tougher decision than changing the line of command...

It would also seem that the new HQ--and commander?--for RC South (East) will be from the US Army's 10th Mountain Division (based near Ontario) when one puts these snippets together:

[1]...
Col. Andre Corbould will be promoted to brigadier-general and appointed as deputy commander of the U.S. 10th Mountain Division headquarters in Afghanistan...

[2] The 10th Mountain Division headquarters will deploy to Afghanistan this fall, officials confirmed Wednesday [Feb. 3]...

It’s still unknown where the division headquarters will be assigned once it is deployed to Afghanistan [one would think Kandahar]...

Earlier:

Afstan: Two new commands likely to replace RC South

Karzais' control of Kandahar/Brit shift there?

Update: More reasons the US Army will take over at Kandahar:

FORWARD OPERATING BASE WILSON, AFGHANISTAN -- The soldiers who will lead the buildup of U.S. forces in Kandahar this summer began arriving this week and immediately dove into a crash course on the problems they will face in Afghanistan's most critical battleground.

Battalion and company commanders from the 101st Airborne Division, which makes up the bulk of the new forces in Kandahar [more here], have teamed with their counterparts in outgoing units to learn the ropes while they await the arrival of the rest of their soldiers...

The treacherous farmlands of the Zhari and Argandab districts on the western outskirts of the city are among the most important terrain for the new troops. The two U.S. battalions there will soon grow to five [emphasis added], each with approximately 1,000 troops...

Map:

The two battalions mentioned above are the 2nd Battalion of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment (Arghandab) and the 1st Battalion of the 12th Infantry Regiment (Zhari) both under Canadian command (see U.S. Army units here); the new battalions will be under US command.