I'm not certain about when the moon rises over Afghanistan tonight. I just used a moon phase calculator to determine that we're having a full moon tonight. A full moon can be both a help and a hindrence depending on what you're trying to do. I'd prefer a new moon if I were flying in Special Forces troops, especially in a helicopter. On the other hand, a full moon might be useful for air attacks against an enemy with little in the way of defenses.

During the early days of WWII, the British used to refer to a full moon as a "Bomber's moon." They had little in the way of navigation aids and were trying to find targets over a blacked-out European mainland, frequently in poor weather. It was tough - in the early years of the war, only a small percentage of bombs hit within 5 miles of their target. Technology changed all that. First, navigation aids like Gee, Obo, and H2S made it easier for them to navigate to their targets even in marginal weather. Furthermore, they put highly trained crews in Pathfinder aircraft to go ahead and mark the targets. In addition, German night fighter technology had improved to the point where the British found they had lower losses without a moon than with a full moon.

Our technology is far superior to anything we had in WWII. Fighters equiped with LANTIRN can go after targets day or night, with or without a moon. Still, there's the chance that a full moon could be helpful, especially for non-LANTIRN equipped aircraft. We'll see.