Centcom: Thousands of U.S. Forces To Remain in Afghanistan Beyond 2014

Posted Aug 22, 2011 by Howard Altman

Updated Aug 22, 2011 at 10:28 AM

If you are planning on seeing the end of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan end in 2014 – the year President Barack Obama says the bulk of combat troops there will come home – you have some more planning to do.

There will still be thousands of U.S. forces in Afghanistan well past that deadline, the folks at Centcom tell me.

On Saturday, the Telegraph wrote that Afghanistan and the U.S. were close to an agreement to keep some level of U.S. forces in that war-torn country until 2024Quoting past assessments by unnamed U.S. military officials, Telegraph reporter Ben Farmer wrote that upwards of 25,000 troops may be needed – the bulk of which will be special operations forces.

When I asked Socom officials about that, they deferred me to Centcom, being that Centcom oversees U.S. military operations in the region.

Centcom chief of engagement Maj. TG Taylor said he still couldn’t talk about the numbers of special operations forces – and even if they could, the numbers change so much “that what’s true today isn’t tomorrow—even now. “

But he can say that there will be 2,000 to 3,000 trainers, mostly Army and Marines, but from all branches, who will be in Afghanistan beyond 2014.

And the U.S. Air Force, he said, has its work cut out for it.

The “Afghan Air Force [will not be] completed with fielding until 2016, given that building an air force is a lengthy process,” Taylor said via email Monday morning.

The bottom line?

“Once the last combat forces are fielded, there will continue to be a need for trainers and advisers,” Taylor said.