Sadaam won't know what hit him...
Posted on 01/20/2003 11:07:46 AM PST by Mark49
The 4th Infantry Division has received its marching orders Monday and is preparing for an imminent overseas deployment.
The division’s units at Fort Hood — two ground brigades and one aviation brigade — along with its 3rd Brigade at Fort Carson, Colo., and other units will be known as Task Force Ironhorse.
Activity was brisk Monday morning in the 4th ID’s motor pools on the east side of the post. From Hood Road to Hood Army Airfield, soldiers were hard at work preparing their M1A2 Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and other equipment for the deployment.
TF Ironhorse will be made up of more than 30,000 soldiers from 10 Army posts including Fort Hood and Fort Carson.
No announcement has been made about the division’s final destination, or how long it will take to complete the movement overseas, which is expected to begin this week. Including the 3rd Brigade, TF Ironhorse will have about 16,000 4th ID and other attached soldiers, of those, more than 12,500 are stationed at Fort Hood.
More than 42,000 soldiers are stationed at Fort Hood, which is home to the 4th ID, 1st Cavalry Division, 13th Corps Support Command, and the III Corps headquarters. During the Persian Gulf War in 1990-91, 26,000 soldiers from the 1st Cav, COSCOM, and the now deactivated 2nd Armored Division deployed from the post.
Following more than five years of testing after it arrived at the post in December 1995, the 4th ID became the Army’s first fully digitized division. The combination of communication and computer systems that make up the backbone of the system give the division’s soldiers the situational awareness the Army has always striven for.
The 4th ID’s 3rd Brigade at Fort Carson has yet to undergo its digital facelift.
Beginning with the smallest possible unit, the individual tank or Bradley for example, each vehicle has a computer that constantly monitors its position and displays it, and the positions of other friendly units, on a screen. Information about enemy positions is also put into the system, displayed and reported up the chain of command over various communications links.
Also Monday, more than 300 soldiers from Fort Bliss near El Paso are next in line to follow advanced Patriot missiles overseas from the West Texas Army post.
The 108th and 35th Air Defense Brigades are scheduled to deploy in support of about 100 pieces of Patriot PAC-3 equipment that were loaded on rail cars Jan. 2 and routed to the Persian Gulf.
The defense department announced the 300 Fort Bliss soldiers will join about 1,100 Fort Bliss soldiers who are already part of the continued military buildup overseas to pressure Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to comply with United Nations resolutions.
A commander in the 108th AD Brigade said he is confident of the mission because of his soldiers and their new-generation missile defense system, the Patriot Advanced Capability 3, or PAC-3.
“It is a tremendous upgrade from PAC-2,” 2nd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Commander Lt. Col. Rod Burke told the El Paso Times in Monday’s editions. “Just the sheer power of PAC-3 outperforms the PAC-2.”
Developed by Lockheed Martin Missile & Fire Control, the PAC-3 is described as a key weapon to help the United States succeed in what could be an imminent war with Iraq.
“The PAC-3 missile is an entirely new missile,” Lt. Col. Robert Jassey, system manager for Fort Bliss’ Training and Doctrine Command, said. “One of the biggest differences is the ‘hit-to-kill’ technology. This missile hits the target directly, and you have to have that in order to obliterate the missile, especially if you want to nullify the effect of a weapon of mass destruction.”
The PAC-3’s development resulted from the United States’ previous conflict in Iraq, the Persian Gulf war, and the Scud missiles used in 1991.
The new missile, Jassey said, is expected to carry Fort Bliss into the “lighter and more lethal” Army, known as the Objective Force.
The Patriot’s weight was reduced for a lighter fighting force. The PAC-3 is 741 pounds, compared with the PAC-2’s 2,000 pounds.
“And one of the neatest things about the PAC-3 is we’ve quadrupled the firepower,” said Jassey. “We can put 16 PAC-3 missiles in a launcher, compared to only four in the PAC-2’s same-sized launcher.”
Craig Vanbebber, spokesman for Lockheed Martin Missiles & Fire Control, the main contractor for PAC-3 missile, said he was also pleased with the missile’s test results.
The Associated Press contributed to this report
Sadaam won't know what hit him...
God bless our troops that protect our freedom and the families that love them and wait for their safe return.
MKM
Speaking of which, what's up with the First Cav?
Be Seeing You,
Chris
I live in Killeen. Many of my friends are being deployed. I know how proud you are of your son. The troops here are trained and ready. God bless them and may they come back soon.
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