Photo: Brig. Gen. Walter D. Givhan, Combined Airpower Transition Force commander, waits at the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, to launch as a passenger on an Afghan National Army Air Corps MI-35 attack helicopter. The mission will be the first time in more than eight years that an Afghan aircraft has fired the 12.7mm nose gun and 57mm rockets. As training and capabilities grow for the ANAAC, this will allow them to provide close-air support to the Afghan National Armed Forces. (U.S Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Parker Gyokeres)From U.S. Air Force:
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- The Afghan National Army Air Corps is a vital and rapidly growing component of Afghanistan's security forces and is building airpower to deny terrorists a safe haven in Afghanistan, a U.S. Air Force general here said.
Afghanistan's vast and forbidding terrain, the threat posed by roadside bombs and the country's nearly total lack of rail transportation make airpower essential, Brig. Gen. Walter D. Givhan told online journalists and bloggers May 26 during a "DoDLive" bloggers roundtable.
"This country begs for air power," said General Givhan, commander of the Combined Air Power Transition Force and the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing.
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My Comment: Because of limits in manpower, allied forces have no choice but to rely on air power. Take the air power away .... it would only be a matter of time before the Taliban would be able to control all areas outside of the cities and large FOBs.