Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan [OEF-A 5]
US Forces Order of Battle
15 January 2005

This is a "best available" order-of-battle of forces deployed in CENTCOM's part of Central Asia. The amount of publicly available information concerning aircraft types and specific units has diminished to the point that it is no longer possible to provide a high fidelity profile of current deployments. There are evidently significant gaps in unit identifications, as well as non-trivial uncertainties as to numbers of specific types of aircraft. The presence of significant numbers of civilian contractor personnel at various facilities in the region further complicates accounting for total personnel numbers.

Recent Developments

• On March 5, 2005 the Stars and Stripes reported that the 12th Aviation Brigade (V Corps) will deploy to Afghanistan over the next few weeks. Task Force Griffin will include the following: 12th Brigade headquarters staff; 3rd Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, a 12th Brigade UH-60 Black Hawk unit based in Giebelstadt; Company F of the 159th Aviation Regiment, better known as "Big Windy," a CH-1 Chinook unit also from Giebelstadt; 2nd Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, an AH-64D Apache Longbow unit from Illesheim, Germany; Companies A and B from the 7th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, a 3rd Corps Support Command maintenance unit from both Giebelstadt and Illesheim. The 12th Aviation Brigade will deploy to Afghanistan to lend air support to the Vicenza, Italy-based Southern European Task Force, which will lead the security mission there for the next year.
• The Daily Times of Pakistan reported on March 6, 2005 that Afghanistan's parliamentary polls are likely to be held in mid-September.
• On February 11, the Charlotte Observer reported that the 391st Engineer Battalion will be leaving for Afghanistan on Sunday, February 13, 2005.
• On February 11, the Army Times reported that about 8,000 soldiers, Air Force personnel, Marines and civilians will take part in an exercise at Ft. Bragg (NC) between February 22 and March 3 called "Operation Devil Freedom." It is the largest exercise at Ft. Bragg since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The exercise will serve to prepare the 1st Brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division, scheduled to depart for Afghanistan in the spring.
• On February 9-10, 2005, NATO Defense Ministers meeting in Nice, France agreed to the expansion of NATO's presence in Afghanistan. This will establish a permanent ISAF presence in the form of four Provincial Reconstruction teams (PRT) and one Forward Support Base (FSB). Two existing US led PRTs at Herat and Farah will switch to ISAF and two new ISAF PRTs will be established with Lithuania in the lead at Chaghcharan, capital of Ghor province and Spain in the lead at Qal'eh-ye Now, capital of Baghdis province. Italy and Spain will provide the Forward Support Base (a logistics hub at Herat) with substantial support from other contributors. The extended ISAF mission will provide security assistance in 50% of Afghanistan's territory.
• On February 4, 2005, an Afghan jet crashed in the mountains east of Kabul due to bad weather. All 104 people on board perished. Two helicopters each from Turkey, the Netherlands and Spain under the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) participated in search and rescue efforts.
• The Washington Post reported on February 2, 2005 that Army Col. Cardon B. Crawford, the director of operations for the U.S. military command in Afghanistan, told reporters that Pakistani forces had "adjusted our artillery fire into the Pakistani side of the border to go after anti-coalition militia." The Pakistani Army quickly denied the statement.
• On January 26, Lieutenant General Jean-Louis Py, head of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), stated that NATO would deploy more peacekeepers ahead of the National Assembly elections.
• On January 16, 2005 the Daily Times of Pakistan reported that NATO expects to make a "milestone" decision next month on expanding the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) into western Afghanistan. The alliance's defence ministers meet in Nice on February 9-10.
• The first flight of the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps (Turkey) personnel, who will take over the lead of the ISAF VII mission in February, arrived at Kabul International Airport from Istanbul in early January 2005.
• The 391st Engineer Battalion from South Carolina has been put on alert for deployment to Afghanistan in January 2005.