Reservists Called Up In Build-Up For Iraq

The Telegraph ^ | 7-19-2002 | Michael Smith

[blam]

Reservists called up in build-up for Iraq

By Michael Smith, Defence Correspondent
(Filed: 19/07/2002)

The Ministry of Defence is planning a mass mobilisation of key reservists beginning in September, heightening expectation that the United States and Britain are stepping up preparations for an attack on Iraq.

British troops have also been pulled out of Nato's ACE Mobile Force rapid reaction corps and British involvement in a large number of exercises has been cancelled or scaled down to leave troops ready for the attack on Iraq.

The Prime Minister has strongly backed the idea of a pre-emptive strike on Iraq and refused to commit the Government to a vote in the House of Commons on the deployment of British forces.

British military planners are working on the basis that Britain will provide a very large force, including an armoured division, a naval task force and substantial numbers of combat aircraft.

The decision to pull out of the Nato rapid reaction force was taken at the same time as it was announced that the bulk of British forces were being withdrawn from Afghanistan and Bosnia.

It means that the 1,500 British troops previously earmarked for the force will not now be taking part in two major exercises this autumn, in Germany and Ukraine.

In another move to free forces for an attack on Iraq, 3,000 members of Britain's main fighting force, 1 (UK) Armoured Division, have been withdrawn from a tank exercise in Poland. The MoD insisted that no decision had been made on Iraq but did not deny that planning was under way. "Any government department has contingency plans," a spokesman said.

Defence sources said the reservists who would be called up would cover key shortages such as pilots, medical staff, special forces, intelligence and signals.

[DugwayDuke]

blam,

I'm sure this isn't the article you mentioned but here's an article with the same information.

And, if anyone thinks I'm posting classified information, this article is based upon an interview with the unit commander. I trust his judgement over whether this information is public domain.

http://www.al.com/news/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/xml/story.ssf/html_standard.xsl?/base/news/1027102534283950.xml

[RightWhale]

Everyone should make it a rule to never discuss troop movements

It's more than a rule. The gummint is about to crack down on this, and they watch FR as does the rest of the decision-making world.

[blam]

"About 300 soldiers from the 1st Battalion 131st Armor unit in southeast Alabama also were mobilized. "

I'm guessing that this is the one that was in my newspaper.

[DugwayDuke]

Probably was and you will probably see a lot more of this. Alabama, New York, and California have the largest national guard contingents in the Nation. Of course, Alabama has, by far, the highest per capita ratio of guardsmen. And, the National Guard differs from the reserve in this crucial difference. NG units are combat units. Armor, artillery, infantry, etc. Reserve units are support troops, mechanics, medics, supply personnel, etc.

[dirtboy]

Loose lips sink ships?

Mebbe we should just fax Saddam the invasion plans at the rate things are going...

[blam]

I didn't know that. Looks like I remembered more than I thought I had.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

Correct you are, which is why in the 1980s, the powers in Washington began downsizing it. However, if you look at the numbers, Clinton added a little grease to keep the downsizing moving along quite nicely.

And people were squawking about this...it's just that no one wanted to listen.


NY Post 2/17/99 Pat Buchanan "Only hubris of a high order explains how we believe we can sustain such commitments on a defense budget that is down to 3 percent of gross domestic product, roughly the level before Pearl Harbor. Meanwhile, we have been antagonizing old enemies and creating new ones to the point that America is more widely resented than any nation on Earth. . . . Imperial over-stretch, the issuance of war guarantees they could not fulfill, has brought down every great empire of this century -- the British, French, Russian, German, Austro-Hungarian. And in the aftermath of her Cold War victory and emergence as the world's last superpower, the United States walks in the same arrogant way. President Clinton has now committed this nation, without debate or the assent of Congress, to put 4,000 troops into Kosovo. Some 6,000 are in Bosnia, hundreds more in Macedonia. Clinton's heart is in the right place in desiring an end to the carnage, but there is no vital interest in Kosovo to justify a permanent U.S. presence. This is Europe's problem. Let Europe deal with it or live with it. For 50 years, we defended Europe against the Soviet Empire. That empire is now dead; the European Union is as populous and rich as we, and emerging as a global rival. America's job is done. Yet instead of using our Cold War triumph as an occasion to discard Cold War commitments, we are adding to them, as we hack away at the power Ronald Reagan built up to sustain them. Since Reagan went home to California, the Navy has been cut from 565 ships to 346, the active-duty Army from 18 divisions to 10, the Air Force from 36 fighter wings to 20. The services now fail to meet enlistment targets. Yet, as our power contracts, our commitments grow.."

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

Oh, absolutely! FINALLY, the money is there...and is it ever! Sheesh, it is sorely needed. And as one might assume, morale is very high right now, though not entirely due to the funds pouring in. So much has to do with the fact that our military has a Commander in Chief that is respected, and who, also, respects them.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

"...and they watch FR as does the rest of the decision-making world."

Really? How do you know this to be true?

[desertcry]

My neighbor is a lite colonel, and flys F16s. I saw him in his driveway this morning ready to leave in his SUV with lots of packed bags. He was very quiet, did not want to talk to me. He is normaly very friendly, so I don't know what this means. I don't think it has anything to do with family problems.

[blam]

"I don't know what this means. I don't think it has anything to do with family problems."

Hmmmm

[RightWhale]

How do you know this

After a while you begin to notice that FR is mentioned here and there. Then realize that most who visit the site just read and don't post, aren't even registered. It's worldwide, too. They want to know what private citizens think about current events. No, Pres Bush himself doesn't have time for the Internet, neither do most heads of state. But there are people on staff whose job is to read the papers, watch the TV, and follow the Internet, which has a big station - FR. There are others, especially in these times.

[tiki]

We're behind you and we know what a sacrifice you make. My father was active military for 25 yrs and then in the reserve. I remember him being on 24 hr alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis, I was around 7 and I was scared but I was so proud of my dad.

If you need encouragement every once in a while count on Freepers. We respect the military and realize that they have, in the past, and will continue in the future to protect our freedom and this great country that we live in.

[PhilDragoo]

I don't think it has anything to do with family problems.

I hope it has to do with Saddam's family problems: all his dead sons are belong to us.

Clinton spoke 32 minutes at my stepson's USNA Commencement May, 1994.

He lied that he would not put our people in harm's way in Bosnia.

Now that Bush is getting them out, it's smashing to see he's fixing the rest of traitor-rapist 42's legacy.

tr42's cutting 40% of funding and tripling deployments while giving his ChiCom buttbuddies guided tours of every platform, base, installation, and exercise, not to mention the Loral-Hughes Missile-Guidance-For-Dummies fax, O'Leary's leak of the W-87 graphic, and his tete-a-tete with PLA Gen. Xiong Guangkai January 24-26, 2000, put us in jeopardy.

Bush is hauling us out with a team--despite the most vigorous obstruction the fifth column of Daschle, Leahy, Lieberman and Gephardt can mount.

The absolute shining steel saber of American soul is being unsheathed in a million military homes, and deserves the support of all of us.

Let the leaks become a tsunami, and let the tsunami become Saddam's insomnia, as he waits for that amphibious assault that never came.

Whereever he looks, he will see stars when it hits the back of his skull.

Fifty, on a field of blue.

[Lady In Blue]

Very interesting thread and interesting posts! Something seems to be up and not just with the British reservists.

[dalereed]

Right you are!

Joseph Perkins of the San Diego Union Tribune, who isn't registered, even went to the trouble to apparently do a search on me to find my e-mail address and sent me a personal thank you for posting his editorials.

[Senator_Palpatine]

"Goood....Everything is proceeding as planned....

Soon,Baghdad will be under my control....."

[RightWhale]

Sounds like a decent person. Not that other aren't, but just wish to be anonymous.

[maquiladora]

"About 300 soldiers from the 1st Battalion 131st Armor unit in southeast Alabama also were mobilized. "

One National Guard brigade is already in Germany beefing up security of US installations. Units like 1-131 Armor could be directly deployed to the war zone or replace V Corps units deployed from Germany to the mideast.