US 4th Infantry Division heading for Gulf

Reuters | 3/26/03

[kattracks]

US 4th Infantry Division heading for Gulf

WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) - The United States is flying its high-tech 4th Infantry Division and other units totaling more than 30,000 troops to the Gulf to join the invasion of Iraq, the military said on Wednesday.

Troops from the division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, and considered one of the most modern fighting forces in the military, will begin flying to the Gulf region in coming days to join its heavy armor and equipment, a spokesman at Fort Hood told Reuters.

The division, with a total of 16,000 troops at Fort Hood and Fort Carson, Colorado, has been awaiting deployment for more than two months. It was originally scheduled to go to Turkey to open a northern front against Baghdad, but Ankara refused to grant transition basing rights for American forces.

03/26/03 11:12 ET

[wideawake]

My little brother's division.

[finnman69]

The equipment will be unloaded around April 1st. How long to get these uys ready for the fight? A week? So ready around April 9th?

[Rammer]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't the 4th in route by way of ships through the Suez canal, Red Sea, and then Persian Gulf about a week ago? The article makes it sound like a new decision, and that they are being flown there.

[ewing]

Correct, DEBKAfile.com said the 4th passed through the Suez Canal on Monday.

[A2J]

God bless him and you.

[MEG33]

Mystery ak has family in the 4th.God bless them and keep them.

[CholeraJoe]

The equipment and the ammo are on the ships. The troops have been cooling their heels in Texas all this time.

[arkfreepdom]

I think they are talking about the troops...equipment should be unloading any day now.

[Cyber Liberty]

Soon, they will be passing Saddam, in the same manner that crap passes through a goose.

[tm22721]

Turkey will pay dearly for their treachery.

BUMP

[WillVoteForFood]

The route you speak of was for the equipment only. The troops will be flown in, much the same as the 101st Airborne was flown in. The question is if they are being flown in now, does that mean we expect these guys to be good to go sooner than the original timeline, which was around April 10? Will the 4th's equipment transit Saudi Arabia rather than entering via Kuwait?

[PhiKapMom]

Godspeed to your brother! This is just what we need in the Gulf!

[Dog Gone]

Possibly. Unless, of course, it ends up in a surprising place.

Do you recall the Hail Mary we did in Gulf War I? The ground forces suddenly appeared about 100 miles west of where everyone, especially the Iraqis, thought they were.

[Ga Rob]

The equipment is being shipped. The troops are still at Ft Hood. Troops don't travel by sea much anymore. They charter 747s for them to fly in.

[AzSteven]

The equipment in en route in ships, but the men were waiting at Fort Hood for the equipment to arrive (in Turkey originally), and would then fly over to man the vehicles.

[ewing]

I couldn't have put it any better way that that..

[blam]

Fox News: Half the ships with the 4th ID equipment are through the Suez canal.

I'm sure they are on high alert for terrorist trying to block the canal.

[js1138]

Don't believe everything you read about troop movements.

[aristeides]

A new thread says the U.S. Army has just established a new Northern Command.