Ready for action.
Posted on 10/14/2002 9:25:05 AM PDT by xzins
Monday, October 14, 2002
V Corps confirms Mideast orders
By Jon R. Anderson, Stars and Stripes European edition, Monday, October 14, 2002
PRIZREN, Kosovo — The Pentagon has ordered the Army’s top warfighting command in Europe to the Middle East, the first U.S. Army Europe unit to deploy as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, officials confirmed Sunday.
“Elements of V Corps headquarters have received a deployment order to deploy to U.S. Central Command area of responsibility,” said Lt. Col. Joe Richard, V Corps spokesman in a telephone interview.
Central Command oversees all military operations throughout most of the Middle East and has primary responsibility for warplanning against Iraq.
The Washington Post reported Sunday that V Corps — along with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force — would deploy to Kuwait to begin detailed planning for a possible ground invasion of Iraq.
Richard said about 300 troops from the Corps’ 600-strong headquarters will deploy “within the next 60 days.”
Meanwhile, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) is wrapping up exercises in the Balkans in preparation for deployment to the Middle East as well.
Most of the MEU’s 2,200 Marines have been ashore in Kosovo for the past month, testing NATO’s ability to rapidly reinforce the region should still-simmering ethnic tensions boil over into renewed violence.
The MEU commander, Col. Richard Mills, said his Marines are scheduled to replace the 11th MEU now in the Gulf.
Mills said he was dispatching advance teams to CENTCOM within the next few days as his troops begin returning to the Navy’s three-ship USS Nassau Amphibious Ready Group, now waiting in Greece.
As it gets under way, the MEU will head south through the Suez Canal and fall under CENTCOM command by the end of the month, officials said.
“My focus right now is keeping the Marines sharp,” said Mills, “keeping them ready.”
That’s been the focus at V Corps, as well.
The Corps is wrapping up a series of live-fire exercises in Poland called Victory Strike III.
“We’ve been training hard,” said Richard. “Obviously, we understand the significance of the events that are evolving. We’ve been a nation at war since 9/11, and the soldiers understand that.”
Led by Lt. Gen. William Wallace, the Heidelberg, Germany-based V Corps oversees about 42,000 troops in Europe, including the 1st Infantry Division and 1st Armored Division.
The 1st I.D. is leading U.S. peacekeeping efforts in Kosovo. Brig. Gen. Douglas Lute said Friday that a rotation of the division’s two brigades is continuing as scheduled in the coming weeks.
Soldiers from the outgoing 2nd Brigade — who will complete a six-month tour of duty in Kosovo next month — have been told to prepare for a rapid rehoning of combat skills upon their return to Germany.
“The division commander is telling us to be prepared for a shorter reintegration period,” wrote U.S. contingent Command Sergeant Maj. Ralph Beam in a recent memo to troops. “The question is not if the call to action will come, but when it will come.”
Command Sergeant Maj. Ralph Beam in a recent memo to troops. “The question is not if the call to action will come, but when it will come.”
When a CSM speaks knowledgeable people listen.
Led by Lt. Gen. William Wallace, the Heidelberg, Germany-based V Corps oversees about 42,000 troops in Europe, including the 1st Infantry Division and 1st Armored Division.
doncha love it: William Wallace. (someone call Mel Gibson)
You say she's been dead for years?
There she goes again!
Ready for action.
Time to find a "Get out of town free" card. Go now while going is possible.
Info Copy to Europeans and Americans in Iraq: get out now.
They should not! I spent over 6 years in Germany so saw first hand the way GIs are treated. How soon they forgot. All they wanted was the $$$$ we poured into the economy. I say let them fend for themselves. I have a 100% German heritage, but have no sympathy for them. Let them eat wurst and drink beer, but do it without any money coming from our GIs.
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