Article...Troops will go in 'sooner, not later'...
By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 13/10/2001)
portal.telegraph.co.uk
GROUND troops are expected to go into Afghanistan sooner rather than later if the Taliban fail to take advantage of the pause in bombing to hand over Osama bin Laden, senior defence sources said yesterday.
Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, admitted that the imminent onset of winter meant that time was running out. He said: "Everyone knows that the weather in a few weeks' time in Afghanistan will be particularly difficult."
But small-scale insertions of special forces - such as the SAS and its American equivalent, Delta Force - for reconnaissance purposes are unlikely to be affected by the winter, and it may even help them.
Small SAS and Delta Force teams are already on the ground to liaise with the Northern Alliance.
The alliance is expected to be used as a proxy force, and for directing air attacks on cave systems thought to be used by bin Laden's men.
But the allies urgently need a forward operations base and simply taking control of that will require several thousand troops, expected to be Green Berets and members of the 10th Mountain Division, which is now based in Uzbekistan.
The allies have an advantage in that the best option, an all-weather air base designed to remain operational throughout the harsh Afghan winter at Bagram, north of Kabul, is in the hands of the Northern Alliance.
The problem will be removing the Taliban and their hand-held, surface-to-air Stinger missiles from the mountains on its southern edge.
That is why the 10th Mountain Division has been moved to Uzbekistan to train alongside the Green Berets in preparation to take control of Bagram.
It will not only provide a forward operations base for special forces operations, but also a runway from which American F15 Strike Eagle and RAF Tornado GR4 ground attack aircraft could patrol the skies over Afghanistan.
The main ground operations are likely to be "snatch" operations, with special forces like the SAS taking the lead, backed up by a larger "force protection" contingent such as the British Parachute Regiment.
The units likely to lead such operations are:
The Special Air Service, the model for the world's leading special forces units. Set up in 1941 to carry out operations behind enemy lines, it created the concept of the four-man team. It includes men with experience of similar operations in Oman.
The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment - Delta, better known as Delta Force, the American equivalent of the SAS on which it is based. Set up at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 1977 by an officer who had served with the SAS, it has snatched war criminals in former Yugoslavia.
The US navy's Special Warfare Development Group, better known as Seal Team Six, was set up in the early 1980s. Based at Dam Neck, Virginia, it is believed to number about 200 men, again broken down into four-man teams, with four teams making up an assault group.
The Royal Marines Special Boat Service, formed like the SAS out of small special forces, and set up during the Second World War when they acquired the nickname the Cockleshell Heroes. They are based at Poole, Dorset, and have been trained to storm liners or North Sea oil rigs taken over by terrorists.
The Australian Special Air Service Regiment is based on its British counterpart and has liaison officers with both the SAS and Delta Force, who regard it very highly. It served in Borneo and Vietnam, where it was so successful that the Viet Cong put a $5,000 bounty on the head of each of the Ma Rung, or Jungle Ghosts.
The units expected to provide protection are:
The 75th Ranger Regiment, based at Fort Benning, Georgia. It has three battalions, each of about 600 men. The Rangers, regarded by the Americans as special forces, are essentially light, airborne infantry.
US Army Special Forces, Airborne, better known as the Green Berets. Split into seven "Special Forces Groups" of about 1,200 men, they made their name in Korea and Vietnam. They were also involved in the 1968 operation to hunt Che Guevara in Bolivia. Two battalions are in Uzbekistan.
The Parachute Regiment. Its members wear the famous red beret. It was formed in 1940 on Churchill's order and fought with distinction throughout the Second World War, most famously at Arnhem. Operations in the Falklands and Sierra Leone created a new generation of regimental heroes. It is based at Colchester, Essex.
Royal Marine Commandos wear green berets. During the Second World War, they angered Hitler to the point where he ordered them to be "annihilated". They are based at Plymouth, Arbroath and Taunton, but are now handily placed on exercise in Oman. Admiral Sir Michael Boyce, Chief of the Defence Staff, has suggested they might be used in Afghanistan.
The French Foreign Legion. Created in 1831, the Legion famously fought in post-war French Indochina, particularly at Dien Bien Phu, and the Algerian war of independence. |
