Exclusive: In Afghanistan With Air Force 911

While the White House debates increasing troop levels, the U.S. military is fighting in the most desolate corners of Afghanistan.

The troops get their supplies and support from what's known as the Air Force 911 team. Its mission: to fly into an active war zone and set up a fully functional air field from scratch.

To get a closer look at just how the team completes such a feat, Fox News correspondent Casey Stegall joined the 911 team for a few days in Afghanistan's Farah Province.

The 615th Contingency Response wing is unofficially known as the Air Force 911 team. Landing a jumbo-size C-130 plane on a dirt runway in the middle of a war zone can be unnerving, but it's all in a day's work for this team. Offloading the plane's cargo has to happen fast, minimizing the time the bird is on the ground. The task is far more difficult than it looks.

"For everybody who's out there, shooting, being on the front lines, you've got people in the back that are taking care of them—bringing in their supplies, getting their supplies out to them so they can engage the enemy," says Sergeant Aaron Redfearn of the USAF 615th.

At most forward operating bases, most every one will pitch in and lend a hand. But in Farrah, the 615th is specially trained to load and unload planes under even the most extreme conditions, reports Stegall.

"Since we've been here, we've increased throughput 150 percent," says the division's Colonel Clarence Lukes.

"What that translates into is the vital equipment and cargo required to upgrade their infrastructure here, is now readily available."

Stegall notes that he met with the same division this past summer during a major training mission in the middle of the Mojave Desert in California. Oddly enough, in Afghanistan the surroundings are very similar. Airmen there say it was the training in California that prepared them for the real deal.