"The debate is over. The decision has been made. It is time to execute," Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a press conference in Washington.

Hundreds of Marines would be in southern Helmand province next week, tonnes of supplies were due to be delivered and the military was "accelerating deployment plans for the rest of the extended surge forces," Mullen said.

"We're on the balls of our feet, leaning forward," he said.

The 1,500-strong Marine contingent was the first of 16,000 troops ordered to deploy in the next several months after Obama's long-awaited announcement last week of a new strategy for Afghanistan.

Army and navy engineers were focused on the monumental logistical challenge of moving 30,000 additional troops and supplies to Afghanistan, expanding airfields and remote bases, Mullen said.

"Tens of thousands of tonnes" of supplies -- including winter gear and construction materials -- were being prepared for delivery, he said.

The land-locked, mountainous country presented a much more difficult challenge than Iraq, which has a port and a large US base in neighboring Kuwait, the admiral said.

"We don't have for that country a major logistics hub akin to the one we have in Kuwait," he said.

"We don't have in Afghanistan anywhere near the number of runways or rail hubs or road networks that exist in Iraq."

But he said he was confident that the bulk of the 30,000 reinforcements would be in place by mid-summer next year and the remaining troops by the autumn.

Mullen's comments came after the US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, told lawmakers this week he believed the larger US-led force could shift the momentum against a spreading Taliban insurgency.

The head of US Transportation Command said on Wednesday that the buildup was complicated by the approaching winter but said the military was ready and had prepared airfields in recent months.

General Duncan McNabb said about the same number of troops were ferried to Afghanistan earlier this year in about the same time frame.

"On the positive side, we've just done that. On the more difficult side, we're talking about doing it in December," he said.

About half the Afghan mission's supplies move by land through Pakistan, a third through northern routes -- including via Russia -- and 20 percent by air, McNabb said.

The military delivers all lethal and sensitive cargo by air as a precaution, but the cost of air shipments is about 10 times more than by land, he said.

US commanders were even considering using unmanned aircraft to deliver supplies to combat troops as well, which would reduce the cost of air dropping cargo, the general added.

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