Nonprofit Trumps The US Department Of Defense In Supplying Needed Supplies To Troops In Afghanistan

Marines in Afghanistan's Helmand province with supplies provided by TroopsDirect. Included were 10 pressure washers, 2,000 feet of hose and 2,000 packs of Gatorade powder. (TroopsDirect / October 21, 2011)

Group Swiftly Gets Crucial Supplies To Troops In Afghanistan -- L.A. Times

TroopsDirect provides such items as stretchers, stethoscopes, communication gear and protective eyewear. It has sent more than 10 tons of supplies to Marine battalions and an Army unit.

OAKLAND — Aaron Negherbon remembers the plaintive email he received from a Marine sergeant in Afghanistan.

"Aaron, I don't know if you can do this," it read. "Our supply truck was blown up and all the gear from my nine medics was destroyed."

The sergeant was requesting surgical kits, gauze, equipment for cutting into tracheas and "all the etc."

Negherbon, 38, founder and president of TroopsDirect, a nonprofit organization, had the supplies gathered, shipped and in the hands of front-line troops within 10 days.

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My Comment: The US Department of Defense should study why the supply chains for these nonprofits functions at a faster speed than conventional US Department of Defense supply chains when supplying front-line troops.

At $400-A- Gallon Gasoline, We Cannot Fight For The Long Term In Afghanistan

U.S.'s Afghan Headache: $400-a-Gallon Gasoline -- Wall Street Journal

Military Air Drops Fuel Barrels to Avoid Dangerous Convoys

OVER EASTERN AFGHANISTAN—Parachuting a barrel of fuel to a remote Afghan base takes sharp flying skills, steady nerves and flawless timing.

It also costs a lot of money—up to $400 a gallon, by military estimates.

But the Pentagon is stuck with the expense for the foreseeable future, especially given the recent deterioration in U.S.-Pakistani relations.

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Update: Real Cost Of Gas At Afghan Bases: $400/gal. -- CBS

My Comment: Unbelievable .... and this is occurring at a time in which defense budget cuts and austerity is the rule and not the exception.

Floods In Pakistan Makes It Harder To Supply Allied Forces In Afghanistan

Pakistani soldiers load supplies onto U.S. Marine Corps CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters attached to the HM-165, 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, during humanitarian relief efforts in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan, Aug. 17, 2010. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Capt. Paul Duncan

Pakistan Flooding Disrupts Afghan War Supplies -- New York Times

SUKKUR, Pakistan — The immense floods that have inundated sections of Pakistan and cut roads and railways have also disrupted the main supply lines for United States and NATO military forces in Afghanistan.

Trucks carrying United States military vehicles under blue tarpaulins were caught in a 30-mile traffic jam on the main highway from the southern port of Karachi to the capital, Islamabad, at the weekend where floodwaters had broken the road and reduced traffic to single file.

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My Comment: I am sure that the floods have also impacted the Taliban lines of communications and supply lines. But this is all temporary. In the next few weeks and/or month, war operations and logistics will be going back to normal .... for both sides.

Why Does It Cost Roughly $1 Million A Year To Support The Deployment Of A Single Soldier To Afghanistan

Pentagon Doles Out Sweetheart Deals For Wartime Supplies -- The Danger Room

According to White House budget estimates, it costs roughly $1 million a year to support the deployment of a single soldier to Afghanistan. Ever wonder why it costs so much? Landlocked country, long supply lines, poor infrastructure, yadda yadda. But how about another possible contributing factor: The reliance of the Pentagon’s main supply agency on no-bid contracts?

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My Comment: I am definitely in the wrong type of work.

U.S. Army in Afghanistan Takes Delivery of New Bacterial Bioreactors To Clean Wastewater

Engineering Wastewater Treatment Sabin Holland is the lead scientist on a waste-water treatment system developed at SHSU which has both military and civilian applications. Sam Houston State University

From Popular Science:

Bacteria have deployed to Afghanistan to help the U.S. Army clean polluted wastewater. The microbes commonly appear in handfuls of dirt, but now form the main component of two new bioreactors made by scientists at Sam Houston State University in Texas.

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My Comment: This is going to help "a lot" in supply missions and emergencies.

The Cost Of The Afghan Surge Is About To Surge

An Afghan army soldier stands near a burning fuel truck outside Jalalabad east of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday after a supply convoy of NATO and coalition forces was attacked. Photo from TampaBay.com

Huge Surge Logistics Bill Coming -- DoD Buzz

President Obama has com­mit­ted to a major new phase of the Afghan cam­paign. With the sub­stan­tial mis­sion expan­sion comes a sig­nif­i­cant demand for new resources to deal with the most ignored part of oper­a­tions to the out­sider, logis­tics and sus­tain­ment costs.

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My Comment: Defence of the Realm has some poignant comments on what he thinks will now happen with this surge in Logistics and transports.

Afghanistan's Supply Lines Are Being Shut Down. New Routes Being Explored

A lineup of U.S. air force KC-135 tanker planes seen at the Manas air base in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009. Kyrgyzstan's parliament said Tuesday it will vote this week on a bill to close a U.S. air base that provides key support to military operations in Afghanistan. President Barack Obama's call for an increased military focus on Afghanistan could be hampered both by the potential closure of the Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan and increased attacks on the main land route for supplies through Pakistan. (AP Photo/Azamat Imanaliev)

Kyrgyzstan Shuts U.S. Base -- Yahoo News/Reuters

BISHKEK (Reuters) – Kyrgyzstan's parliament voted on Thursday to close the only U.S. air base in Central Asia, removing one of the U.S. military's supply routes into Afghanistan as it prepares to send more troops.

The United States also faced reluctance from its NATO allies to provide more soldiers to complement the extra 17,000 troops it is sending to Afghanistan to tackle the Taliban insurgency.

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More News On The Cutting Of Afghanistan Supply Lines

Kyrgyzstan president signs bill to close U.S. base -- CNN
Kyrgyz issues eviction notice to US -- Yahoo News/AP
Kyrgyzstan Parliament Sends U.S. Eviction Notice -- The Danger Room
Despite Kyrgyz Vote to Close US Base, Gates Explores Options to Keep It Open -- New York Times
Kyrgyz Parliament Approves Plan to Close US Air Base -- Washington Post
Kyrgyzstan to Give U.S. 6 Months to Leave Base -- New York Times
US Says Closure of Kyrgyzstan Air Base Will Not Harm Afghan Operations -- Voice Of America
Gates Willing to Pay More for Base -- Associated Press
Petraeus Knocks on Uzbekistan's Door -- Christian Science Monitor
Why You Lost an Air Base -- Washington Post opinion
Pakistan's Local Gov't Orders Closure Of NATO Transportation Station -- Defense Technology News
Punjab orders closure of NATO depot in Attock -- Daily Times
Pak Punjab Government closes two NATO supply facilities -- Thaindian News
US Considers Alternate Supply Routes into Afghanistan -- Voice Of America
US finds new Afghan supply route -- BBC
US wins Central Asian go-ahead for Afghan transit -- AFP
Tajikistan allows NATO cargo transit to Afghanistan -- Reuters
U.S. may look at Turkey following Kyrgyz base closure -- RIA Novosti

News Updates On Supply Problems/Logistics To Afghanistan

In this March 1, 2005 file photo, a U.S. military personnel member is seen at the airfield as a transport plane taxies at the U.S. air base in Manas international airport 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek. Kyrgyzstan's government submitted a draft bill to parliament Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2009 to revoke the country's hosting of a U.S. base that is an important component of the Afghanistan military campaign. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, File)

How The U.S. Lost Its Kyrgyzstan Air Base -- International Herald Tribune

The recent decision by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev of Kyrgyzstan to close the U.S. military base in the small Central Asian country should come as no surprise to Washington's new foreign policy team. Since its establishment in the fall of 2001, the U.S. air base at Manas has been founded upon the granting of narrow economic incentives to the host country - and not on the Kyrgyz Republic's commitment to the broader international campaign in Afghanistan.

What began as a relationship based on economics is about to end for financial reasons. Though the loss of Manas will deal a short-term blow to U.S. efforts in Afghanistan, staying is not worth the new Kyrgyz asking price.

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More News On How To Support Afghanistan's Supply Lines

Kyrgyz Parliament Group OKs Closure of US Base -- Voice Of America
Trouble in Kyrgyzstan -- Foreign Policy
US delegation in Moscow for Afghanistan talks -- AP
U.S. diplomat holds Afghan supply talks in Moscow -- Reuters
Don't Count On Russia Over Kyrgyz Base, NATO Envoy Tells US -- Easy Bourse
Manas closure will not affect Afghan transit - Russia's NATO envoy -- RIA Novosti

With Attacks On Afghan Supply Lines In Pakistan, US Turns To Uzbekistan

From The Christian Science Monitor:

US rebuilds ties with Central Asian nation to secure new military supply routes.

Tashkent, Uzbekistan - Desperate for a new military supply route into Afghanistan, the US is quietly rebuilding ties with leaders of this Central Asian nation, despite its grim human rights record.

The need for a more reliable land link was underscored Tuesday after Taliban militants cut the existing major coalition supply route by blowing up a bridge in northwest Pakistan's Khyber Pass region.

Coalition forces are not in danger of running out of supplies, a NATO spokesman in Afghanistan said. But with 80 percent of all supplies flowing through this largely lawless region of Pakistan and with attacks on convoys increasing, Washington has been moving fast to repair relations with Afghanistan's neighbors.

Uzbekistan evicted the US military in 2005 after Washington and other Western governments called for an inquiry into the reported massacre of hundreds of civilians during a protest in the city of Andijan.

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My Comment: With the Pakistan corridor closed today due to militant attacks and the destruction of a key bridge .... the U.S. and NATO have no choice now but to look elsewhere.

U.S. Plans Central Asian Supply Route To Afghanistan

A truck carried supplies for American and NATO troops on a highway east of Kabul, Afghanistan. Musadeq Sadeq/Associated Press

From The New York Times:

WASHINGTON — The United States and NATO are planning to open and expand supply lines through Central Asia to deliver fuel, food and other goods to a military mission in Afghanistan that is expected to grow by tens of thousands of troops in the months ahead, according to American and alliance diplomats and military officials.

The plan to open new paths through Central Asia reflects an American-led effort to seek out a more reliable alternative to the route from Pakistan through the strategic Khyber Pass, which was closed by Pakistani security forces on Tuesday as they launched an offensive against militants in the region.

The militants have shown they can threaten shipments through the pass into Afghanistan, burning cargo trucks and American Humvees over recent weeks. More than 80 percent of the supplies for American and allied forces in Afghanistan now flow through Pakistan.

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Update: US eyes alternate supply lines into Afghanistan: official -- AFP
Update: Eight die in Pakistan offensive against militants in the Khyber Pass -- Christian Science Monitor

NATO's Supplies Are Now Being Targetted In Pakistan

Over five dozen US NATO ISAF provision trucks and armored vehicles destined for western troops in Afghanistan stand smoldering after the attack Photo: EPA (Photo taken from The Telegraph)

Taliban Raids Nato Convoys For Second Night
-- The Telegraph

Pakistani Taliban fighters attacked Nato supply routes for a second consecutive night, torching 50 containers needed to supply troops in Afghanistan during an audacious raid near Peshawar.

The attack came barely 24 hours after 200 militants destroyed more than 100 lorries in a Nato base barely a mile away. The trucks are needed to ferry vital equipment and supplies through the perilous Khyber Pass - the narrow mountain trail leading from Pakistan into Afghanistan.

"The militants came just past midnight, firing in the air, sprinkled petrol on containers and then set them on fire," said Mohammad Zaman, a security guard at the site quoted by Reuters.

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More News On Taliban Attacks On Nato Supplies

Pakistan Militants Torch 50 NATO Supply Trucks: Police -- Yahoo News/AFP
Another 50 vehicles burned as third terminal attacked in NW Pakistan -- China View
Pakistan militants torch 100 NATO vehicles: police -- AFP
Pakistani Militants Burn 50 Afghanistan-Bound Military Vehicles -- Voice Of America
Afghan supply trucks torched by Pakistan militants -- CNN
In two days, militants torch 260 NATO vehicles in Peshawar -- The Hindu
NATO And The Road To Defeat -- SKY News