Air Force doubles manpower for Afghan attacks

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U.S. Air Force Pararescueman Alejandro Serrano from the 46th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, and a machine gunner next to him, test fire their weapons in the open desert on Oct. 11.


Air Force doubles manpower for Afghan attacks
By Tom Vanden Brook, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Air Force has more than doubled the number of airmen in Afghanistan who call in airstrikes, as the use of bombs, missiles and strafing runs has spiked to its highest level since the war began.

The Air Force has increased the number of joint terminal attack controllers — the airmen who work with soldiers to coordinate airstrikes — to 134 last year in Afghanistan, up from 53 in 2009, said Maj. Ike Williams, an operations officer at Air Combat Command in Langley, Va.

The increasing reliance on airstrikes and the troops who direct them comes as the U.S. military has raised its troop level in Afghanistan to 100,000, including 30,000 deployed last year.

Those troops often rely on bombs to repel attacks and help them destroy Taliban strongholds.

"What you're seeing is a reaction to the enemy on the ground," said Air Force Col. Richard Gannon, an air operations commander in an interview Sunday from Kabul. "It's a resilient enemy and an enemy that's persistent."