Saturday, September 16, 2017

Life from Above

Finding and killing the Taliban is one way air power can help the Afghan government forces gain battlefield superiority over the Taliban. Encouraging government forces to fight is another advantage for the government.

This will be very important for government security forces morale:

After 16 years of war, Afghan forces still lack efficient means to evacuate wounded and dead off battlefields in Afghanistan. And its air force is still in its infancy, making it difficult to dedicate air assets to helping wounded troops.

U.S. Marines in Helmand province have taken the initiative in assisting Afghan partner forces in building a capability to move wounded off the battlefield in one of Afghanistan’s most unmanageable provinces.

Of course, more surveillance and strike capacity will help keep government security forces from being hit as hard in the first place.

Afghan forces need every advantage they can get from the air.