President Obama makes his plans known as he announces how he hopes to end the War on Terrorism.

His plan, starts with increasing the amount of troops already on the ground.

Reporter Kate Schell gets feedback from one North Dakota soldier who served a year in the war-zone.

(Barack Obama/President of the United States) "And as Commander-in-Chief, I have determined that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan." Just one day after his announcement, President Obama's new Afghanistan strategy is met with both skepticim and support. It's a plan that wastes no time. The first set of additional troops will be sent to Afghanistan in less than a month

(Lt. Col. Jon Erickson/ND National Guard) "We place our trust and faith in our senior leadership and they are making the right decisions."......"When you sign up you know that there is a potential to deploy to serve your country and I havent met one person that I have served with that hasnt been proud to do that." Lt. Col. Jon Erickson knows what it's like in Afghanistan, better than most people. He served a year there as a command leader providing security to the Afghan people and training the Afghan police and Army

(Lt. Col. Jon Erickson/ND National Guard) "I certainly do believe that the one year we were there we were making progress." He says as progress was made support of the people was gained. Support from the Afghans, many of whom which strongly oppose the Taliban

(Lt. Col. Jon Erickson/ND National Guard) "so they truely in my eyes looked at us, Americans, as liberators basically we got rid of the Taliban for them and they understand we're doing everything we can to keep them from coming back and helping them build their country for the future." (Kate Schell/Reporting) "The North Dakota National Guard has deployed 277 soliders and 9 airmen since the War on Terror began 8 years ago. Lt. Col. Erickson says there is no way in knowing if this new announcement will include anymore North Dakota soldiers." (Lt. Col. Jon Erickson/ND National Guard) "We have a unit currently now in Afghanistan and there is another unit from the North Dakota National Guard that is headed over there to replace them, but what it means additional forces that would be going to Afghanistan, what the means to future ND National Guard deployments I have no idea and I couldnt begin to speculate." One thing that is known the new Afghanistan strategy will cost at least $30 billion more than current spending...With KX News, Im Kate Schell."


The President has made it clear in his address to the nation that he hopes to start bringing troops home in 18 months. watch the video | save this article / add to your favorites list