WASHINGTON -The Obama administration's new emphasis on the war in Afghanistan, including a long-term influx of extra forces, has exposed weaknesses in U.S. military planning and development efforts in that country that top officers are scrambling to address.
The U.S. military command structure in Afghanistan was designed for a much smaller force. But with the increase ordered by President Barack Obama, the number of U.S. troops will reach 60,000 by the end of summer and is expected to eventually reach 68,000. Along with about 35,000 NATO troops, the U.S.-led force needs a larger headquarters operation, military officials and experts said.
Some officials favor the assignment of a second commanding general with a large staff of new officers, a development that would be reminiscent of the troop surge in Iraq, which necessitated hundreds of extra soldiers for headquarters units.
Such an overhaul would install a new general to coordinate U.S. and allied military operations around the country. That would enable the current commander, Gen. David McKiernan, to work on improving the Afghan government, its military and services.
"You need a general who is, day-to-day, committed to the fight - an operational commander - and a general who is, day-to-day, committed to the governance," a senior defense official said on condition of anonymity because the proposal is still under discussion.
In Iraq, the military's headquarters was augmented by officers, planners and soldiers reporting to a three-star commander who had prepared and trained together before shipping out. Afghanistan has never had such a "corps level" commander.
"Afghanistan has not had the robust layer of planning," the defense official said.
Afghanistan has long been seen as a secondary effort to Iraq, but the Pentagon is examining ways to overhaul the effort after months of advances by Taliban militants and extremists.
As another possible change, the military is considering a radical shift in deployment cycles that would assign key leaders and planners to Afghanistan for up to five years, rotating them in and out in nine-month stints and trying to place them in the same locations and jobs each time.
Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an e-mail that the changes are part of a "new strategy and a new commitment."
