Posted on 02/10/2003 4:20:00 AM PST by snippy_about_it
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 A United States Army Bradley tank with the 3rd Infantry Division based in Ft. Stewart, Ga., drives past the setting sun after the conclusion of urban warfare training in the Kuwaiti desert Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003, in Kuwait. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)  United States Army soldiers from the 3rd Infantry Division based in Ft. Stewart, Ga., run with the mortar tube as they train in urban warfare in the Kuwaiti desert Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003, in Kuwait. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)  A United States Army soldier from the 3rd Infantry Division based in Ft. Stewart, Ga., runs through a smoke screen as he attacks a mock village in the Kuwaiti desert with his company during urban warfare training Sunday, Feb. 2, 2003, in Kuwait. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)  U.S. Marine gunner Cpl. Perry Long (top R) from Kent, Ohio helps his colleagues assemble the components on their 155mm Howizter gun on February 1, 2003. U.S. Marines are assembling hundreds of different types of assault vehicles in the Kuwait desert just miles away from the Iraq border as the troops prepare for a possible war with Iraq. REUTERS/Stephanie McGehee  United States Army soldiers of Charlie company, 3/15 Infantry from Fort Stewart, Georgia jump from an M1A1 Abrams tank during an urban warfare training course in the north Kuwait desert January 31, 2003. The training comes as Britain's Prime Minister Blair heads to the U.S. for talks with President Bush (news - web sites), with a decision on whether to go to war against Iraq just weeks away, REUTERS/Chris Helgren  United States Army engineer Pvt. George Ryan Pierce, from Vacaville, Calif., 19, with the Delta Company 10th engineers battallion rests on top a personnel carrier in the Kuwaiti desert 10 miles south of Iraq Friday, Jan. 31, 2003. Thousands of US troops are assembling in Kuwait in case of a possible US-led war in Iraq. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)  United States Army engineer PV2 George Ryan Pierce of Vacaville, California, takes an afternoon nap on top of his armored vehicle in the north Kuwait desert, January 31, 2003. U.S. President George W. Bush (news - web sites) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) meet at Camp David, Maryland today to discuss strategy on how to force Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) to disarm. REUTERS/Chris Helgren  United States Army Specialist Kris Mantle of Linn, Missouri reads a copy of Sports Illustrated magazine between urban warfare training sessions in the north Kuwait desert with his Third Platoon, Charlie company of the 3/15 Infantry from Fort Stewart, Georgia January 31, 2003. REUTERS/Chris Helgren  United States Army Private Sean Ward, of Cornwall, New York, catches some sleep between urban warfare training sessions in the north Kuwait desert with his Third Platoon, Charlie company of the 3/15 Infantry from Fort Stewart, Georgia January 31, 2003. REUTERS/Chris Helgren |
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 Third Army Kuwait News
 Third Army Camp Doha, Kuwait Home  Service members use cards and stationary donated by the American public to write home.  A serviceman searches through a box of cards to send home.  The canteen is one of few places at Camp Doha where soldiers can relax and escape the routine of military life.
Anti-US poison plot surfaces in Kuwait Kuwaitis hold vigil for murdered American  Czechs could help U.S. counter chemical attack  CAMP DOHA, KUWAIT (Nov. 19, 2002) – U.S. Army soldier PFC Charles Guillory of Arizona keeps watch under a full moon during exercises at dusk in the Kuwait desert Nov. 19, 2002. About 10,000 U.S. troops are engaged in exercises just 50 km (31.07 miles) from the Iraqi border.  CAMP DOHA, KUWAIT (Nov. 19, 2002) – Spc. Robert A. Wallace, a driver from Battery A, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, provides security in the Northwestern sector of Kuwait during a live fire exercise Nov. 19, 2002. |
U.S. War Buildup in High Gear in Kuwait
By STEVEN GUTKIN
Associated Press Writer
February 9, 2003, 2:43 PM EST
CAMP VIRGINIA, Kuwait -- The key launch pad for a future war on Iraq bustles with tens of thousands of U.S. and British soldiers. Military convoys clog highways, and the entire northern half of Kuwait is sealed off as a military operations zone.
"Every day this thing grows by leaps and bounds," Lt. Col. Jeffrey Helmick said.
"We're bursting at the seams," said Helmick, commander of the U.S. Army's 6th Transportation Battalion, which helps truck tons of supplies from ports of entry to desert camps near the Iraqi border.
Officials will say little about the total number of U.S. troops being dispatched to Kuwait before a possible war. Washington says war is likely to begin soon because Iraq has failed to rid Iraq of all biological, chemical and nuclear weapons -- weapons Iraq denies it has.
About 113,000 U.S. troops are now in the Gulf, and that number is expected to climb to 150,000 by Feb. 15 -- enough to launch at least the first stage of an invasion. Britain is sending 35,000 troops -- including a quarter of its army and its biggest naval task force in two decades.
When troops arrive in Kuwait -- usually in cargo planes or in commercial jets chartered by the military -- they travel to base camps in civilian buses with curtains that are drawn so potential terrorists don't see in.
The timing of any possible war could be driven less by diplomatic maneuverings than by the complicated logistics required to set up and supply an invasion force. Bringing in tens of thousands of troops involves building new roads, camps and living quarters, in addition to ensuring adequate supplies of food, water, electricity, weaponry, ammunition and vehicles.
Judging from the intense activity at Kuwaiti ports, the massive military convoys blocking traffic throughout the oil-rich emirate and the words of U.S. soldiers on the ground, the job is just about done.
"We've got enough for whatever needs to be done. Now we're just continuing to reinforce it," said Sgt. Maj. Larry Stevens, spokesman for the 6th Transportation Battalion. "If the commander in chief gives the order, we don't have to wait for anything."
Camps are being set up throughout northern Kuwait, where a large ground force is massing in white tents, bustling mess halls and training grounds with shooting ranges, mock cities and Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
At base camps there are gyms with state-of-the-art cardiovascular machines, movie theaters, fast-food restaurants set up in trailers and PXs stocked with everything from Coca Cola to DVDs to Mideastern tobacco pipes. A chapel set up in a tent at Camp Arifjan, the U.S. military's main logistics base south of Kuwait City, has heat, air conditioning and a digital hymn player.
This week, command-and-control systems that would be used in any strike on Iraq are being tested in a computer-generated exercise dubbed Lucky Warrior.
Kuwaiti police, U.S. Marines and an armored vehicle mounted with an M60 machine gun escorted a convoy of 30 heavy trucks carrying bulldozers, forklifts, graders and other engineering equipment across the desert Saturday from Kuwait's main sea port to Camp Virginia, a small base near the Iraqi border.
Soldiers in the convoy clutched their M16 rifles and talked of their hopes and anxieties surrounding a possible war.
Kuwait is grateful to the United States for leading the coalition force that drove Iraqi troops out of Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War. It has welcomed allied troops now despite an official stance opposing war without U.N. approval. The United States says it will attack if necessary, with or without a new U.N. resolution.
The entire northern half of the emirate has been declared off-limits to civilians, to the annoyance of families who normally enjoy camping in those deserts at this time of year.
Despite pervasive pro-U.S. sentiment among Kuwaitis -- a rarity in the Muslim world -- three serious attacks on Americans here since October have killed a U.S. Marine and an American civilian contracted to the U.S. military. Shots have been fired on U.S. convoys carrying equipment and personnel.
"We're in danger every day," said 2nd Lt. Sarah Groen, 23, of Haymarket, Va., who commanded Saturday's convoy.
Inside the cab of one of the convoy's trucks, two sergeants asked an army chaplain how long they'd have to be away from home.
"Wrap your mind around a year," said the chaplain, 37-year-old Capt. Craig Johnson, of St. Louis, Mo. Even if a war went quickly, he told the soldiers, there would be many humanitarian operations and other duties to be performed in a post-war Iraq.
Links to other recent news about the Kuwait Operation:
Kuwait-Iraq border residents in dark as war looms
US mobilisation transforms Kuwait into armed camp
Good morning, Snippy! Good morning, Canteen Crew! Good morning, EVERYBODY!
Chicagoland Weather
Current Conditions:
As reported at KORD, O'Hare Arpt..
Last update Mon 10 Feb 2003 4:56 AM CST. 
Cloudy 
25°F Feels Like: 16°F
UV Index: 0 Minimal
Wind: From the W at 9 mph
Humidity: 82 %
Visibility: unlimited
Barometer: 29.71 inches and Rising
Today's Forecast Mon 10 Feb 2003 03:01 AM CST
AM Clouds/PM Sun 
Low 8°F
High 23°F
Rainy and cool (in the 40s) here today. Yuck. Glad I don't have a lot of driving to do as all the idiots seem to crawl out of the woodwork here when it rains or snows.
Kids are doing fine. JJ just left for school a few minutes ago. Still not sure when hubby will be home. Other than that just waiting patiently (ha!) for tax returns to come in.
Have a great day everyone!
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Good Morning Troops!!!
Good Morning Canteen Crew!!!
Good morning Tom :)
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