Pentagon girds for war in the Gulf

The US military has begun moving significant numbers of troops and equipment to the Gulf over the past two months, military analysts say, a sign that the Pentagon is girding for war on Iraq even as the Bush administration continues to hammer out a resolution on weapons inspections at the United Nations.

This week's announcement by General Tommy Franks, the head of US central command, that he would personally oversee the movement of more than 600 personnel from his headquarters in Tampa, Florida, to a new forward command base at Qatar's al-Udeid air force base in December, is just part of an apparent build-up that has put an estimated 48,000 to 50,000 US soldiers in the Gulf.

That number does not include approximately 10,000 personnel in the USS George Washington carrier group. That formation is in the Mediterranean and not under US central command, which oversees all forces in the Middle East.

"Not only have the actual numbers there changed dramatically but discussion about what will be in transit to the region has also increased," said Patrick Garrett, a military analyst with GlobalSecurity.org. "There's a lot of hardware that's getting moved out that was not scheduled to move any time soon."

The US navy has been the most visible in its new deployments. The USS Constellation carrier group, based in San Diego, California, is due to set sail for the northern Arabian Sea this Saturday. It will probably arrive in the region in December, the same time the George Washington is scheduled to return to the US, but analysts noted that the Pentagon could stretch the George Washington's deployment - normally scheduled for six months - by at least an additional month.

In addition, the USS Harry Truman carrier group, based in Norfolk, Virginia, is completing exercises earlier than scheduled and could be deployed to the region in early December. The USS Kitty Hawk, stationed in Japan and the only carrier group not permanently based in the US, also left port last week.

The deployments would give the Pentagon three to four carrier groups in the region as early as December. Both army and marines have also shown signs of moving forces into the region, analysts said this week, although most are deploying under the guise of exercises. The 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, comprising approximately 2,200 troops, passed through the Suez Canal on three ships this week on its way to Kuwait.

In addition, two Apache helicopter squadrons with about 1,000 soldiers that are part of the army's Germany-based V Corps were moved to Kuwait this month, where headquarter staff have already been assigned.

Most army personnel in the region are based in Kuwait, at two locations: Camp Doha, military headquarters for the country, where 2,700 troops are stationed; and "the Kabals", a series of desert camps near the Iraqi border, where 6,000 troops are camped.

At Least 600 Indiana Reservists Mobilized
(INDIANAPOLIS, November 1st, 2002, 6 p.m.) -- At least 600 members of the Indiana National Guard are being mobilized as part of the nation's anti-terrorism campaign.

Pentagon authorities notified state officials Friday of the mobilization, and of the possibility that as many as 1,500 other Indiana Guard members could be mobilized soon.

The affected soldiers are from the 1st Battalion 293rd Infantry Regiment headquartered in Fort Wayne, with other bases in Angola, Huntington and Warsaw, said Lt. Col. James McGillivray, an Indiana National Guard spokesman.

The Guard members will take part either in Operation Noble Eagle, the code name for the post-Sept. 11 attacks mission of protecting U.S. territory, or Operation Enduring Freedom, the name for the Afghanistan campaign.

They are to report by the end of November. McGillivray said details about the reporting date and the unit's mission and destination were not immediately available.

Potentially, Guard members may not be sent overseas, or away from their current bases, he said.

They had been put on alert for possible call-up since earlier this month.

The regiment is a light infantry battalion with air assault capabilities.

Andrew Stoner, a spokesman for Gov. Frank O'Bannon, said the state also was notified that as many as 1,500 members from the Army National Guard's 76th Infantry Brigade, based in Indianapolis, and the 1st Battalion 152nd Infantry, based in Jasper and Linton, have been put on alert so that they could be mobilized shortly.

Nationwide, more than 57,000 National Guard and military reservists have been called to active duty, as of earlier this week.

"Our job...is to be a force in readiness," McGillivray told the Herald-Republican of Angola earlier this week. "It may or may not ever come to anything."

(Copyright 2002 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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