Kandahar, Afghanistan, March 09, SPA -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates flew to Kandahar early Tuesday for meetings with U.S. and British generals overseeing the current military campaign in Marjah. Gates presented Silver Stars for valor to two Army aviators before scheduled visits with U.S. forces at small forward operating bases elsewhere in the south of Afghanistan, the Associated Press reported. On Monday, the Pentagon chief said the progress made in the Marjah offensive, launched last month, is encouraging, but he stopped short of saying the war is at a turning point. «People still need to understand there is some very hard fighting, very hard days ahead,» Gates told reporters. Gates met Monday in Kabul with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan. McChrystal said preparations have begun for a crucial campaign to assert Afghan government control over Kandahar. Gates traveled to Afghanistan to check on the progress of the war's expansion, directed late last year by President Barack Obama. The 30,000 additional U.S. forces Obama ordered are now arriving and most will be in place by summer. Without being specific, McChrystal suggested that any heavy fighting in Kandahar will wait until more U.S. and NATO troops are ready. --SPA 11:13 LOCAL TIME 08:13 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/756563