Afghan security gains are steady, top Drum commander says

WASHINGTON — Soldiers under the 10th Mountain Division’s commanding general are making steady security gains in southern Afghanistan — but don’t credit the death of Osama Bin Laden.

That was one message from Maj. Gen. James L. Terry, commander of Fort Drum and the 10th Mountain Division, who told reporters in a briefing from Kandahar, Afghanistan, Thursday that a multinational force continues to help move the country steadily toward self-sufficiency in advance of planned U.S. withdrawals.

“A lot has changed during our ten months on the ground,” Gen. Terry told Pentagon reporters via videoconference. He said he has not seen much difference in the enemy’s behavior or in the security situation since U.S. Navy Seals killed Bin Laden in a raid four months ago.

“To be honest with you, operations continue,” Gen. Terry said. He said he is confident Afghan security forces will be ready to take over in the southern region by 2014.

Gen. Terry, in his second such briefing with reporters since taking over command in Afghanistan, praised provincial leaders for taking on more responsibility and cited several statistics to reflect his soldiers actions in recent months — though he acknowledged that improvised explosive devices and “complex attacks” from insurgents remain a concern.

Soldiers have captured around 1,400 caches of weapons, and more than 300 high-level members of the opposition have been killed or captured since November 2010, Gen. Terry said. The numbers have not changed much since the prior period, but he said commanders will not be able to say until the end of the typical fighting period, this fall, how the increased U.S. military presence has affected such seizures and captures.

Forces have become adept in the fight against IEDs, helped by enhanced protective vehicles provided by Congress, Gen. Terry said. The threat of such devices seems to wax and wane, he said, based on a supply cycle that affects the enemy’s ability to make and deploy them. When IEDs decline, U.S. forces tend to face more direct fire instead, he said.

Among the threats is the movement of ammonium nitrate, an important ingredient in explosives, across the border, which Gen. Terry said allied forces have cut into through interdictions.

While Bin Laden’s death has had little noticeable effect, Afghanistan is adjusting to the assassination of President Hamid Karzai’s half brother, a provincial council chairman.

“I think there was some initial shock and perhaps a little bit of momentum lost, but I see that momentum frankly being regained,” Gen. Terry said.

With other issues consuming Washington, military actions have fallen somewhat from the headlines. Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., said in the heat of the debt ceiling debate earlier this week, “When was the last time anybody said anything about Libya?”

Indeed, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, told Pentagon reporters Thursday that the debt ceiling crisis and the dragging economy have preoccupied the troops as well. On a recent visit to the region, he said, hardly an event with soldiers went by when he was not asked about those issues.

While he is encouraged that troops are informed about issues back home, Adm. Mullen said, “Our men and women in uniform have enough to worry about just getting the job done.”

If the Afghanistan mission has fallen from the public consciousness, Gen. Terry said he is not seeing much affect on the soldiers.

“Soldiers are focused on the mission. They’re resilient,” he said. “It’s not a huge concern right now.”