Naïve question for military folks:
When they say they’re sending 1800 troops, does that include the cooks, base managers, supply people, etc?
Or does it mean that we’re sending 1800 combatants?
Also - what’s a reasonable ratio of fighters to support people?
Thanks for your insight and experience...
“When they say they’re sending 1800 troops, does that include the cooks, base managers, supply people, etc?”
Yes. I assume these are with the air force planes, and if so, then practically speaking all we are doing is sending more planes.
Pilots, ground crews, technicians, security, transportation and logistics. And LGBT liaisons and support groups...
“Thanks for your insight and experience...”
If they were Marines, each and every one of them would be a rifleman and combatant first, with a “side job”.
But since it’s AF and Army, they probably have a Company (200) of security, and the rest operate and maintain the equipment.
Two squadrons of F-15s (assume 40 total) is likely 600 men, or more, alone. Each THAAD/Patriot battery likely about 50.
All the rest are staff, logicians and IT.
These days, most of that is subbed-out to private contractors... Triple Canopy etc.
Deploying has changed a lot in the last few decades.
The only "combatants" are the actual Fighter Pilots, though there will be some security forces in the mix to provide "force protection", aka base security. The vast majority will be support for the aircraft and weapons systems, along with appropriate command, staff, logistics, etc.
I'm not a zoomie, so not sure how many troops we deploy per aircraft, but the Air Force is only 4% pilots, so service wide, the ratio is 25:1. Also note that some portion of the force will be US Army, supporting the Patriot and THAAD systems.
2 Squadrons of F-15’s plus a support Group, and maybe a battalion of security troops. Probably all USAF, but the security might also be Army. The missile detachments would be Army.