U.S. and Afghan soldiers exit a Chinook helicopter during Operation Thunder Almasak, a counterinsurgency sweep in eastern Afghanistan. The U.S. strategy: Help Afghans take a larger role in planning and conducting combat missions. (Photograph by Chad Hunt)From Popular Mechanics:
elicopters give U.S. Forces an edge in Afghanistan. But it takes more than machinery to win a war. PM editor, Joe Pappalardo rides shotgun on a mission that just might show the way to an exit strategy.
The 120 soldiers seated in the gravel at Forward Operating Base Zormat in eastern Afghanistan are all eagerly watching the sky. Early morning birdcalls give way to the steady thumping of rotors as two Chinooks slide into view, U.S. National Guardsmen seated at the controls, each helicopter’s ungainly airframe held aloft by the beating of six 30-foot-long blades. The aircraft make wide arcs around a surveillance balloon floating over the base and then slide into parallel positions close to the soldiers. Rotor wash lashes the troops with brown dust and pebbles as the choppers settle onto the gravel landing pad.
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My Comment: A timely post when you consider the British Army Chief had to borrow an American helicopter to get around when he was visiting Afghanistan (see previous post).
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