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Army Vice Chief Lauds Special Ops' Afghan Mission
Thursday, January 24, 2002
By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service

Once the A Teams were on the ground, they faced the challenge of first joining an army of 5,000 to 10,000 Afghans and then gaining the trust of its leaders. In some cases, the Special Forces could not speak the language of the tribe they had joined, Keane noted. You had the delicate business of 30-year-old captains advising the local general 15 years his senior on how to fight his war, Gen. John Keane said.

WASHINGTON -- AFIS
Talk about a general who's proud of his troops. Just mention the Army Special Forces operation in Afghanistan to the Army's vice chief of staff and he'll glow as he tells you about their mission.

Gen. John Keane, a broad-shouldered hulk of a career soldier, attributes America's success in Afghanistan to three things: the military's going in early, without waiting to husband all the resources necessary; relying on friendly Afghan forces to take the fight to the Taliban and Al Qaeda; and using Army Special Forces to guide U.S. air power.

"Sometimes, we forget how dramatic it is, what we have done," the general told several hundred officers at the Reserve Officer Association mid-winter conference here. Recapping the mission, Keane said U.S. air forces began softening Afghan air defenses Oct. 7 so U.S. and coalition pilots could fly safely on strike and humanitarian missions.

"Then we started on strategic and leadership targets -- mostly infrastructure, communication sites, command and control facilities, barracks and the like," he said. Meanwhile, he continued, Afghan groups expressed frustration because airplanes flew over them every day, but few supported their tactical objectives.

But concentrating attention on strategic targets was the plan, Keane said. The strikes occurred while U.S. forces were getting resources into place, which required working out staging arrangements. That planning proved challenging -- who would permit overflights, landing and resupply permits, the staging of forces -- and who would allow the United States and other coalition members to conduct combat offensive operations from their territory.

Then, the United States began introducing its special operations forces.
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2002 © The United States Department of Defense.

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