Good Friday Afternoon August 13
A bit of everything after trolling through over a 100 unread email
Regards
Skip
Vietnam Air Losses website
Thanks to Micro
Thanks very much for reprinting the announcement from when I opened our Vietnam Air Losses website. We continue working on it several days a week. Since inception, we've increased from 3118 to 3122 records in the database. During that time, we've been contacted by many people with updates, corrections, questions, requests, and details. We've added a LOT of information, including some compelling stories from those that were shot down. I've always left the original text (if it was accurate) and clearly marked the input from the participant or eyewitness.
Among those interested in the database were helicopter crews and others that participated in SAR's. All they knew was the call sign of the one(s) on the ground that they were trying to rescue. Often, they didn't know the type aircraft, the service, or the person(s)' name(s). So, they asked us for call signs. Although they wanted a searchable field in the database, I vetoed that. Adding another searchable field would require adding several dozen lines of code to my search engines, with a great deal of opportunity to screw it up. So, what I came up with was adding the call signs to the Narratives. Those Narratives are searchable via a full text search, using Boolean operators, so perhaps that will satisfy their need.
Chris went back into all the original records and pulled out the call signs of the downed aircraft, when they were there. Of course, some are missing. So far, I've input all the Navy, all the Marine Corps, and up through 1968 for the Air Force. I just got '69 and '70 yesterday and will get those in over the next few days. Chris is working on '71-'73 now.
I'll also write an article for the website about call signs because they border on the bizarre, at least to civilians. Each Service, as well as components within each Service constructed call signs differently. For example, Navy used a squadron (official) call sign plus the side number of the aircraft (OR the position within the flight, such as the Leader being 1 and tail-end Charlie #4). The Marine Corps often used an "Event Number" and position within the flight with an entire MAG using the same word prefix, such as Oxwood 41, meaning the lead aircraft in Event 4 for the day. At other times, perhaps under a different MAG CO, each squadron had its own word prefix, like Black Ace. So, the call sign concept that was used changed during the course of the war.
An additional issue I'll have to explain to help the helos and Sandys find what they're looking for is that the official record might well break a one-word call sign into two words (or vice versa). For example, Riverboat might be recorded sometimes as River Boat. Of course, we all know that Furbritches is one word, but the analysts in Washington just wouldn't understand. Just a few other examples from the dozens: Ringneck, Playboy, Moonglow, Shotgun, Wildcat, Ramrod, Redbird, Polkadot, Dogwood, Gunfighter, Sleeptime, etc. As you can see, if you search for the whole word, but the data has been input as two words, you won't find what you're looking for (Sleep Time, Polka Dot, etc.).
The Air Force used a variety of constructs at various times from various bases. They might use all car names, such as Olds, Chevrolet, Ford, Kaiser, Buick, etc., or they might use types of trees, such as Oak, Peach, Sycamore, etc., or types of fish, such as Bass, Shark, Perch, etc. They then appended the position within the flight, most often. But none of that is universal. FAC's (at times) used a personal number along with a unit name, such as Covey 31 or Nail 4. Anytime that guy was airborne, he used the same call sign. And, of course, in many cases there is no record of the number, so all we have is Sidewinder Flight.
I'll have to figure out how best to explain some of this with an eye toward helping a searcher to find what he wants to find, without trying to explain much in the way of logic since it changed over time.
The responses we've gotten over the past two years have been very gratifying, from families and friends of those lost, researchers, and others. It has been well worth the effort.
There are lots of great stories, but I'll highlight just a few for quick reference to wet your whistle, as my dad used to say:
https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1450
https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1814
https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1110
https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=901
https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1710
Just a sample.
Micro
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Thanks to Micro,
I sent him a note see below and here is his reply so if you know of a Helo pilot that was lost in Vietnam this is the best I have found. I filed the one I received a couple years ago so well I did not remember where I put it so after looking I went to Micro who is much better at filing things and remembering where it went
Is this what you were looking for: https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
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Thanks to Louis
F-14 Tomcat: Demonstration by Dale Snodgrass :: 1996 Cleveland National Air Show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLDR8jWUJJE
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Thanks to Carl
Sharks - Amazing!
Found it on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8LmxwOgBhA
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Thanks to Dr. Rich
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thanks to Shadow for sharing
Gents,
Had one of those neat little life events yesterday... from a wild coincidence.
Got my latest edition of "The Hook" and on the cover was a picture of three guys walking on the flight deck of a carrier… the two guys in front were talking to each other as they walked along and the third guy was walking close behind them. As soon as I saw the picture… I looked at the guy behind and immediately thought… "Shit, I know that guy"! Didn't remember his name, but was damn sure remembered I'd met him and from where and when. It was from NAAS Meridian when I was in high school. My dad was in VT-9 and we lived on the base. Not a lot to do at Meridian in those days for a Navy Brat… mostly for me was playing high school sports and chasing girls. I also was some what of a gym rat on the base… playing pickup basketball and working out. The guy in the picture was a NAVCAD going through training at Meridian back then and was a hell of a basketball player! I'd played in some pickup games with him and he was also the star on the base basketball team. I was sure that was him in the picture!
I remembered he'd gone to college up north, but couldn't remember whether it was Rutgers or Tufts (it was Tufts)… but I was frustrated that I couldn't remember his name. He was not identified in the picture (he was, but I didn't realize it, I'll get to that later). Anyway… I was wracking my brain trying to remember his name and thought… "What the Hey… maybe the good folks at The Hook will know"? So I called them. A nice lady answered the phone on the other end. Told her who I was and that I was curious if they would know the name of the guy behind the first two? She was a sweetheart and said, "As a matter of fact I do… I just talked to him a couple of days ago". She then told me he had called to inform them that they had erred in the caption of the picture… they had used his name as one of the two guys in front talking to each other, when in fact he was the guy behind them. He told her who the second guy really was. She then said his name was Henry Dodge. Man that didn't ring a bell… then she said, "He also goes by "Pete"! Bam! That's it… it was Pete, don't think I ever knew his last name… but my memory was jogged and I knew it was the same guy I'd met so many years ago! Ships passing into the night, eh? Then she said… I'll send him an email with your contact info and maybe y'all can contact each other. Long story short, he called me that afternoon… what a hoot! We've since exchanged emails after the phone call and I told him that at one point, I had some self doubt about asking about him, in that the picture was taken during hard times for all of us… and there was always the possibility that the inquiry might result in bad news… Thankfully, it was the opposite.
That was almost 60 years ago! Never saw or heard of him again, once he left Meridian… but never forgot his athletic prowess or face. Last night, he sent me a picture that he'd sent to The Hook staff holding up the cover of the magazine… I'll forward that after this note.
Naval Aviation… is a gift that keeps on giving… even after all these years!
Shadow
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Thanks to Cowboy for finding the URL
: Amazing-1 Day!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRjGVS1FIwk&t=2s
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Thanks to Carl N.
A fantastic airdale success story from 1986 ......
https://sierrahotel.net/blogs/news/double-ugly-medevac
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Thanks to Brown Bear
Very Respectfully,
FYI.
Begin forwarded message:
From: Richard Schaffert <brownbearlead@gmail.com>
Date: August 13, 2021 at 12:59:33 PM MDT
To: Captain Rick Grant <rickg459@gmail.com>
Subject: A Celebration of Life, and Heroism
A tip of the Jewish "Kippah" to you, Skipper Grant, on this 13th day of August. Fifty-one years ago, you and your heroic Big Mother crew,"fished" my Roomie Norm Levy out of the snake infested waters of the Tonkin Gulf, not far from the deadly enemy air defenses of Haiphong. You were truly following the words of our Almighty God: "Greater love hath no man!" You were indeed offering your lives for Norm's. Thank you, Sir, I salute you and your courageous crew.
May I humbly offer to you the "letter" I prepared in Norm's memory. I first authored it on the first anniversary of his death in the horrific explosion and fire aboard USS Oriskany. I repeated that process for 47 years. Following is the "last one" as updated in 2014:
-----
Norm was killed on 26 October '66. Exactly one year later, we were again back on Yankee Station. After flying my 5th mission against Hanoi in 72 hours, I rose from a restless night to scribble a note to Norm. I folded it into a paper airplane; then walked back to USS Oriskany's fantail, lit the paper on fire, and launched it into the darkness above the ship's wake. Norm and I would both have turned 80
this year ... so, due to natural causes, this will be the last of the 47 annual letters I've written to him. With the help of friends and mutual acquaintances over the years, my original note has expanded into a perhaps "too lengthy" letter.
---
To: Lieutenant Commander Norman Sidney Levy, US Navy Deceased (1934-1966)
Good morning, Norm. It's Memorial Day 2014, 07:29 Tonkin Gulf time. Haven't talked with you for a while. That magnificent lady on which we went through hell together, USS ORISKANY, has slipped away into the deep and now rests forever in silent waters off the Florida coast. Recall we shared a 6' by 9' stateroom aboard her during McNamara and
Johnson's ill-fated Rolling Thunder, while our Air Wing 16 suffered the highest loss rate of any naval aviation unit in the Vietnam conflict. Three combat deployments, between May '65 and January '68,
resulted in 86 aircraft lost from the 64 assigned to us; while 59 of our aviators were killed and 13 captured or missing from Oriskany's assignment of 74 combat pilots. Our statistical probability of
surviving Rolling Thunder, where the tactics and targets were designated by combat-illiterate politicians, was less than 30%. The probability of an Oriskany pilot being an atheist approached zero!
Seems like a good day to make contact again. I've written every year since I threw that "nickel on the grass" for you. For several years, it was only a handwritten note ... which I ceremoniously burned to simulate your being "smoked." With the advent of the internet, I shared annual emails to you with some of our colleagues. Unfortunately, the net's now a cesspool of idiocy! Much of it generated by those 16 million draft dodgers who avoided Vietnam to occupy and unionize America's academia; where they clearly succeeded
in "dumbing down" an entire generation which now controls the heartless soul of a corrupt "Hollywoodized" media. This will be my last letter. I'm praying Gabriel will soon fly my wing once more, and I look forward to delivering it to you personally.
This is the 47th year since I last saw you, sitting on the edge of your bunk in our stateroom. You remember ... it was the 26th of October 1966 and we were on the midnight-to-noon schedule. There was a wall of thunderstorms over North Vietnam, with tops to 50,000 feet, but McNamara's civilian planners kept sending us on "critical" missions all night. At 04:00 they finally ran out of trucks to bomb, in that downpour, and we got a little sleep.
Our phone rang at seven; you were scheduled for the Alert Five. I'd bagged a little more "rack time" than you, so I said I'd take it. I went to shave in the restroom around the elevator pit, the one near the
flare locker. The ordnance men were busy putting away the flares. They'd been taking them out and putting them back all night, as McNamara's "whiz kids" continually changed the targets. I had finished
shaving and started back to our room when the guy on the ship's loudspeaker screamed: "This is a drill, this is a drill, FIRE, FIRE, FIRE!" I smelled smoke and looked back at the door that separated the pilots' quarters from the flare storage locker. Smoke was coming from underneath. I ran the last few steps to our room and turned on the light. You sat up on the edge of your bunk and I shouted: "Norm, this is no drill. Let's get the hell out of here!" I went down the passageway around the elevator pit, banging on the sheet metal wall and shouting: "It's no drill. We're on fire! We're on fire!" I rounded the corner of that
U-shaped passage . . . and the flare locker exploded! There was a tremendous concussion effect that blew me out of the passageway and onto the hangar deck. A huge ball of fire was rolling along the top of the hangar bay.
You and forty-five other guys, mostly Air Wing pilots, didn't make it, Norm. I'm sorry. Oh, dear God, I am sorry! But we went home together: Norm Levy, a Jewish boy from New York, and Dick Schaffert, a Lutheran Cornhusker from Nebraska.
I rode in the economy class of that Flying Tigers 707, along with the other few surviving pilots. You were in a flag-draped box in the cargo compartment. Unfortunately, the scum media had publicized the return of us "Baby Killers," and Lindberg Field was packed with vile demonstrators enjoying the right to protest. The "right" you died for!
Our wives were waiting in a bus to meet our plane. There was a black hearse for you. The protestors threw rocks and eggs at our bus and your hearse; not a policeman in sight. When we finally got off the airport, they chased us to Fort Rosecrans. They tried interrupting your graveside service, until your honor guard of three brave young Marines with rifles convinced them to stay back.
I watched the TV news with my family that night, Norm. Sorry, the only clips of our homecoming were the "Baby Killer" banners and the bombs exploding in the South Vietnam jungle ... although our operations were up North, against heavily defended targets, where we were frequently shot down and captured or killed. It was tough to explain all that to my four pre-teen children.
You know the rest of the story: The vulgar demonstrators were the media's heroes. They became the CEO's, who steal from our companies
... the lawyers, who prey off our misery ... the doctors, whom we can't afford ... the elected politicians, who break the faith and the promises.
The only military recognized as "heroes" were the POW's. They finally came home, not because of any politician's self-aggrandized expertise, but because there were those of us who kept going back over Hanoi, again and again ... dodging the SAM's and the flak ... attacking day and night ... keeping the pressure on ... all by ourselves! Absolutely no support from anyone! Many of us didn't come home, Norm. You know; the guys who are up there with you now. But it was our "un-mentioned" efforts that brought the POW's home. We kept the faith with them, and with you.
It never really ended. We seemed to go directly from combat into disabled retirement and poverty, ignored by those whose freedoms we insured by paying that bloody premium. Our salary, as highly
educated-combat proven Naval officers and fighter pilots, was about the same as what the current administration bestows as a "minimum"
wage upon the millions of today's low-information, unmotivated,clueless graduates. Most of them lounge at home on unemployment rolls and feed off the taxes that we pay on our military retirements; which are 80% less than what the current All Volunteer Force receives and from which we have already lost 26% of our buying power to pencil-sharpening bureaucrats who "adjust" the economic data.
Do you remember, Norm? We got 55 bucks a month for flying combat; precisely $2.99 for each of the 276 missions I flew off Yankee Station. Can you believe America's new All Volunteer Force, which
recently fought a war with a casualty rate less than 10% of ours ... and only 1% of WWII ... , received more than $1,000 a month combat pay from a guilt-ridden Congress, which trusts paid mercenaries more than old-fashioned American patriotic courage. The families of those of us who were killed in Vietnam got $10,000 of life insurance. Today's
survivors get $100,000! Unfortunately, the gutless liberalism of today's elected officials has created the worst of all possible situations: Our socially engineered, under-funded, military couldn't
presently fight its way out of a wet Chinese paper lantern!
The politically adjusted report, issued for the 100th Anniversary of U.S. Naval Aviation, confirmed that we, and our brothers who flew in Korea, have been written out of American history. Norm, I only hope
that today's over-paid bureaucratic "dudes" who cook the books, scramble the facts, and push the propaganda for their political puppet-masters, will not be able to scrub your name off the Wall. That
Wall and our memories are the only things many of us have left. We hold those memories dear! We band together in groups like the Crusader
Association, which is now holding its 27th "Last Annual" reunion. Some say the association has to do with flying a peculiar aircraft, I say it has to do with a peculiar bunch of guys. We're damned few now! After 5,000 hours flying simulated and actual combat, and pulling at least 5 g's more than 25,000 times, those who are still around have ultrasounds resembling haunted houses on Halloween; with nerve bundles sagging like cobwebs, leaking valves, and ruptured pipes. We'll all be seeing you shortly, Norm. Put in a good word for us with the Man. Ask
Him to think of us as His peacemakers, as His children. Have a restful Memorial Day. You earned it.
Very Respectfully,
Your Roommate Dick (Brown Bear) Schaffert
14 May 2014
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No apparent fear of death
Thanks to Doctor Rich
Hang on ...
Heart-stopping video shows sub-10:00 wet motorcycle lap of Nurburgring
It is important to exercise every muscle in your body, and if your sphincters could do with a tone-up, allow me to suggest a ten-minute focused workout watching this absolute madman rip a lap of the Nurburgring on a motorcycle, in the pouring rain. Read more
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Thanks to Brett
Geopolitical Futures:
Keeping the future in focus
https://geopoliticalfutures.com
Daily Memo: Update on Afghanistan
The Taliban are gaining ground, and fast.
By GPF Staff
August 13, 2021
Sending reinforcements. The United States announced it would send an additional 3,000 troops to Afghanistan to help protect its embassy staff as they evacuate the country. The Taliban have gained control over several key cities, including Kandahar, and appear to be advancing toward the capital. Meanwhile, NATO is planning to hold an emergency session on the situation on Friday.
Bracing for an influx. The EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, in a statement urged the Taliban to resume peace talks with the government of Afghanistan. The EU is worried about an influx of Afghan refugees as the security situation deteriorates in the country. (The bloc's border agency on Thursday reported that the majority of migrants crossing into the Western Balkans, where the number of illegal crossings increased by 90 percent this year compared to last year, were from Afghanistan and Syria.) Meanwhile, India, too, is reportedly planning to reactive direct talks with the Taliban.
Outbreak fallout. China's latest COVID-19 outbreak is starting to hit major global supply chain networks. A terminal at China's Ningbo-Zhoushan port – the world's busiest shipping port by cargo tonnage – reportedly remains closed after shutting down Wednesday, apparently due to a positive test. In response, container shipping rates between China and the U.S. reached record highs yet again. The number of container ships waiting at anchor to enter the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has tripled since June.
Provocation. A French frigate is reportedly anchored off the coast of Taiwan, according to an unnamed Taiwanese coast guard official and open-source observers. Neither the French nor the Taiwanese governments have confirmed the arrival. Though European navies – the British, Germans and French in particular – have been deploying warships to the Indo-Pacific more frequently, they've generally steered well clear of anything that Beijing would see as a major provocation. This, of course, would be different.
Fresh talks. Representatives of the Venezuelan government and opposition will meet in Mexico on Friday to kick off a new round of negotiations aimed at resolving Venezuela's political crisis.
Commuter havoc. A nationwide rail strike is wreaking havoc for commuters in Germany. The strike began on Tuesday and was supposed to end Friday, but it appears the union and Deutsche Bahn have not reached a settlement.
Defense cooperation. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe arrived in the northern Chinese city of Qingtongxia, where their countries are carrying out joint military exercises. The two officials emphasized the growing cooperation between their nations' armed forces.
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thanks o Doctor Rich
And, an excellent special on BBC this AM, with interviews w. British General in charge and VP of Afghanistan, as well as several other commentators .. pretty much all agreeing that Afghanistan is going down the tubes and Taliban will re-institute Sharia law w. executions of those opposed …
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58184202
Rich
Two articles = two rather different views of the situation in Afghanistan published about 20 hours ago – I think its rather important that we determine which is correct - Dutch
Afghanistan capital Kabul could fall to Taliban within 90 days, US assesses
Taliban advancing rapidly in areas where US airstrikes are rare
By Rich Edson , Lucas Y. Tomlinson , Brooke Singman | Fox News
The U.S. assesses that the capital of Afghanistan could fall to the Taliban within the next 90 days, two sources familiar with the matter confirmed to Fox News, just weeks before President Biden plans to completely withdraw U.S. troops from the region following nearly two decades of war.
The Taliban seized three more Afghan provincial capitals and a local army headquarters on Wednesday, attaining control of two-thirds of the nation. The sources said that the intelligence regarding Kabul's security has been dire for some time.
Pentagon officials told Fox News that the intelligence community updated its assessment of Afghanistan after the Taliban conquered nine provincial capitals in recent days.
TALIBAN AMBUSHES AND KILLS AFGHAN GOVERNMENT MEDIA OFFICIAL
A CIA assessment months ago said Kabul could fall in six months, however, officials say, at this point, that prediction has been cut in half.
But one U.S. official told Fox News that while Kabul could be "surrounded" in the next month, he expected a protracted civil war to break out and the capital not to fall to the Taliban for several months, saying that most of the 300,000 U.S.-backed Afghan forces will rally around the capital.
The Taliban's spiritual home of Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, appears to be one of the next provincial capitals in danger of falling, and the the limited U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan by drones, B-52 bombers, and AC-130 gunships in recent days have been concentrated in Kandahar, in what officials call a last-ditch attempt to keep the city from falling to the Taliban.
Officials also told Fox News that Afghan special forces are concentrated in the south defending Kandahar and are the only ones qualified to call in American airstrikes.
TALIBAN CAPTURE 6 AFGHAN CITIES, IN AREAS WHERE US AIRSTRIKES ARE RARE
At this point, Afghan special forces are in short supply in northern Afghanistan – one of the reasons why there have been so few U.S. airstrikes there. But U.S. officials said dropping bombs on crowded provincial capitals in the north already seized by the Taliban increases the risk of civilian casualties.
Since the U.S. military left Bagram Air Base, it must now fly from bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates — an eight-hour trip that leaves very little time over head in Afghanistan.
Taliban fighters are seen inside the city of Farah, capital of Farah province southwest of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021. (AP Photo/Mohammad Asif Khan)
The Pentagon's authority to carry out airstrikes in Afghanistan ends on Aug. 31, when the U.S. military withdrawal will be complete, officials say. After that date, the U.S. military will have to get the White House to approve future airstrikes or get issued a new set of authorities from the commander-in-chief. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday that "no policy decision' has been made about continuing such strikes after Aug. 31.
Last week, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani blamed the United States' "sudden" decision to withdraw its troops for the rapid collapse of security in the country.
Ghani told the Afghan parliament that "the last three months" have been an "unexpected situation."
He added, though, that the government had a U.S.-backed security plan to bring the situation under control within six months as peace talks between the government and Taliban negotiators continue to stall, Reuters reported.
President Biden in April pushed back former President Donald Trump's deadline for a military withdrawal from May to Sept. 11. The withdrawal began in May, and by early July the situation was rapidly deteriorating: The Pentagon on July 9 detailed "concerning advancement" by the Taliban in the wake of the withdrawal.
Two weeks later, the Pentagon said the withdrawal was about 95% finished while admitting the Taliban appeared to have "strategic momentum."
The president, though, has committed to withdrawing troops by Aug. 31.
"I do not regret my decision," Biden told reporters Tuesday. "We spent over a trillion dollars, over 20 years. We trained and equipped with modern equipment over 300,000 Afghan forces ... they've got to fight for themselves."
State Department spokesman Ned Price on Tuesday told reporters that it "was never an option for the United States to maintain its forces" in the region, doubling down, saying it "was never a viable option for this president, a president prioritizes the safety, the security, the well-being of our service members, to maintain forces there in significant numbers after May 1."
"From April 30th to May 1st, our service members would have become – could have become, once again – targets of violence," Price said. "And that is something that had not happened since the U.S.-Taliban agreement. That was not a proposition this President, this administration, was willing to accept."
The Biden administration has said it will continue to support the Afghanistan military financially and logistically, including with contractors helping maintain the government's air force, from outside Afghanistan, after the withdrawal.
White House insists Afghan forces 'have what they need' to battle surging Taliban
Jen Psaki says US will continue to provide close air support, with Taliban controlling two-thirds of nation
The White House insisted Wednesday that Afghan forces "have what they need" to battle the Taliban, as the U.S. assesses that the capital of Afghanistan could fall within the next 90 days.
The Taliban seized three more Afghan provincial capitals and a local army headquarters on Wednesday, attaining control of two-thirds of the nation. The sources said the intelligence regarding Kabul's security has been dire for some time.
AFGHANISTAN CAPITAL KABUL COULD FALL TO TALIBAN WITHIN 90 DAYS, US ASSESSES
Pentagon officials told Fox News that the intelligence community updated its assessment of Afghanistan after the Taliban conquered nine provincial capitals in recent days.
A CIA assessment months ago said Kabul could fall in six months, however, officials say, at this point that prediction has been cut in half.
But the White House Wednesday maintained that the U.S. is cooperating with Afghan forces, implementing its "train, advise and assist approach."
"We are continuing and we will continue to provide close air support," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Wednesday.
"Ultimately, Afghan National Defense and Security Forces have equipment, numbers and training to fight back," Psaki continued. "They have what they need."
She added: "What they need to determine is if they have the political will to fight back, and if they have the ability to unite as leaders to fight back, and that is really where it stands at this point."
TALIBAN AMBUSHES AND KILLS AFGHAN GOVERNMENT MEDIA OFFICIAL
President Biden has committed to withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan by Aug. 31, but Psaki maintained that he has made extensive requests for assistance and humanitarian assistance for those in Afghanistan through his budget proposals.
"Our assistance, our partnership, does not end," Psaki said.
As for the assessment that Kabul could fall within 90 days, Psaki said the White House is "closely watching the deteriorating security" in the region, and working to coordinate air strikes "with and in support of Afghan forces."
"Afghan leaders need to come together, and the future of the country is on their shoulders," Psaki said, adding that the Taliban, on the other hand, needs to "make an assessment of what they want their role to be in the international community."
Psaki, though, said the White House is taking the risk "seriously," and is watching it "closely."
Meanwhile, the Taliban's spiritual home of Kandahar, in southern part of the country, appears to be one of the next provincial capitals in danger of falling, and the the limited U.S. airstrikes in Afghanistan by drones, B-52 bombers and AC-130 gunships in recent days have been concentrated there, in what officials call a last-ditch attempt to keep the city from falling to the Taliban.
TALIBAN CAPTURE 6 AFGHAN CITIES, IN AREAS WHERE US AIRSTRIKES ARE RARE
Officials also told Fox News that Afghan special forces are concentrated in the south defending Kandahar and are the only ones qualified to call in American airstrikes.
At this point, Afghan special forces are in short supply in northern Afghanistan – one of the reasons why there have been so few U.S. airstrikes there. But U.S. officials said dropping bombs on crowded provincial capitals in the north already seized by the Taliban increases the risk of civilian casualties.
Since the U.S. military left Bagram Air Base, it must now fly from bases in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – an eight-hour trip that leaves very little time overhead in Afghanistan.
The Pentagon's authority to carry out airstrikes in Afghanistan ends on Aug. 31, when the U.S. military withdrawal will be complete, officials say. After that date, the U.S. military will have to get the White House to approve future airstrikes or get issued a new set of authorities from the commander in chief.
Last week, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani blamed the United States' "sudden" decision to withdraw its troops for the rapid collapse of security in the country.
Ghani told the Afghan parliament that "the last three months" have been an "unexpected situation."
He added, though, that the government had a U.S.-backed security plan to bring the situation under control within six months as peace talks between the government and Taliban negotiators continue to stall, Reuters reported.
The Biden administration has said it will continue to support the Afghanistan military financially and logistically, including with contractors helping maintain the government's air force, from outside Afghanistan, after the withdrawal.
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