Air Power, Insurgency and the “War on Terror” - Prof. Joel Hayward's ...

Night of <strong>the</strong> Flying Hooligans
rural disquiet close up. Helicopters had been deployed to <strong>the</strong> country after a request
from Taraki via <strong>the</strong> Treaty. In <strong>the</strong> spring of 1978, twenty army helicopters were sent to
<strong>the</strong> country to assist <strong>the</strong> government with stemming <strong>the</strong> rising armed opposition to
PDPA rule.
As Soviet intervention in Afghanistan seemed increasingly likely, <strong>the</strong> AA performed
reconnaissance of border areas between Afghanistan <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> USSR in early December
1979. During <strong>the</strong> same month, <strong>the</strong> Soviet Minister of Defence Marshall DF Ustinov began
planning <strong>the</strong> invasion of Afghanistan to assist <strong>the</strong> DRA armed forces in restoring order.
Soviet aircraft operating in Afghanistan were painted in DRA <strong>Air</strong> Force (DRAAF) colours
<strong>and</strong> flown by Soviet ethnic Tajik <strong>and</strong> Uzbek crews. Afghanistan’s population had a 25
percent <strong>and</strong> eight percent composition of Tajiks <strong>and</strong> Uzbeks <strong>and</strong> it was thought that <strong>the</strong>se
crews with <strong>the</strong>ir ersatz DRAAF aircraft would not raise much suspicion if <strong>the</strong>y had to
crash l<strong>and</strong> in Afghanistan. 288
Seeing that Afghanistan’s internal situation was unravelling day by day, Brezhnev
decided to act. The so-called Limited Contingent of Soviet Forces (LCOSF) would be
comm<strong>and</strong>ed by <strong>the</strong> 40th Army under General-Lieutenant YV Tukharinov. Preparations
for <strong>the</strong> intervention had begun on 13 October 1979 after <strong>the</strong> first deputy to <strong>the</strong> chief of
<strong>the</strong> General Staff, Army General SF Akhromeyev, had formed an operational group to
co-ordinate <strong>the</strong> activities of <strong>the</strong> government <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> armed forces in raising <strong>the</strong> necessary
military units for <strong>the</strong> invasion. The invasion plan was h<strong>and</strong>ed over to <strong>and</strong> approved by
Colonel-General YP Maksimov, comm<strong>and</strong>er of <strong>the</strong> Turkestan Military District, on 13
December <strong>and</strong> was transmitted to Tukharinov for its execution. The time for <strong>the</strong> 108th
Motorised Rifle Division (MRD) to cross <strong>the</strong> international border was set at 1630 hours
Kabul time on 25 December. On 24 December, First Deputy Defence Minister Marshal SD
Sokolov had arrived from Moscow to observe <strong>the</strong> operation at 40th Army headquarters.
Operations got underway as a motorised rifle battalion from <strong>the</strong> 108th MRD moved
crossed <strong>the</strong> Amu Darya river, <strong>the</strong> international border between <strong>the</strong> two countries. Once
over <strong>the</strong> border, <strong>the</strong> division concentrated in <strong>the</strong> eastern part of <strong>the</strong> country in <strong>the</strong> area
around Baghlan, Kunduz <strong>and</strong> Puli-Kumri. On 27 December, <strong>the</strong> unit received orders to
march on Kabul, to reach <strong>the</strong> city by 1700 <strong>the</strong> following day after <strong>the</strong> seizure of <strong>the</strong> capital.
As <strong>the</strong> 108th MRD got underway from Termez, so did <strong>the</strong> 5th MRD from Kushka, moving
through western Afghanistan with <strong>the</strong> two forces eventually linking up at <strong>the</strong> sou<strong>the</strong>rn
city of K<strong>and</strong>ahar. 289
In two days, when <strong>the</strong> western world was primarily distracted by Christmas, <strong>the</strong> Soviet
Union had performed its first foreign invasion since Czechoslovakia. What was supposed
to be a short, limited intervention to assist <strong>the</strong> Afghan government in regaining control
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<strong>Air</strong> <strong>Power</strong>, <strong>Insurgency</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> “War on Terror”