Free Republic

<p>FORT HOOD, Texas — The Army's 4th Infantry Division is hustling to ready maps and battle plans for troops preparing to enter Operation Iraqi Freedom from the south after plans to come from the north through Turkey were abandoned.</p> <p>The division's intelligence officers are working at a hectic pace to prepare large, laminated maps of southern Iraq to replace previously distributed maps of southern Turkey and northern Iraq.</p>

March 23, 2003 Fort Hood units may leave this week BY KEVIN J. DWYER Herald Staff Writer After years of training and months of anticipation, it now looks like the 4th Infantry Division will get the chance to put their skills to the test in Iraq. Ending the weeks of frustrating indecision, the division's 12,500 soldiers stationed at Fort Hood are expected to begin shipping out to the Persian Gulf this week. Defense Department and Army officials said Saturday the United States had abandoned efforts to send the 4th ID into northern Iraq through Turkey. "It's like, OK, at last,"...

http://www.kdhnews.com/military_32303.html

FORT HOOD, Texas - For two months they lived on the edge, expecting the call at any moment. At last, soldiers with the Army's 4th Infantry Division on Saturday got some welcome news: Ships loaded with their equipment were on their way to the Persian Gulf. It was a big relief. "The speculation's over, the waiting is over, the wondering is over," said Maj. Josslyn Aberle, a public affairs officer. "Now it's time to go do our jobs." Some 33,000 troops of the division or attached to it have been under orders to deploy since Jan. 18. They had to...

<p>FORT HOOD, Texas — The biggest coordinated ground and air assault in recent history is well under way in Iraq, and the Army's most technologically advanced units are finally on their way.</p> <p>The 4th Infantry Division, which has been waiting in Texas for two months, got word yesterday it will ship out soon to Kuwait instead of the initial plan of southern Turkey.</p>

For two months they lived on the edge, expecting the call at any moment. At last, soldiers with the Army's 4th Infantry Division on Saturday got some welcome news: Ships loaded with their equipment were on their way to the Persian Gulf. It was a big relief. "The speculation's over, the waiting is over, the wondering is over," said Maj. Josslyn Aberle, a public affairs officer. "Now it's time to go do our jobs." Some 33,000 troops of the division or attached to it have been under orders to deploy since Jan. 18. They had to wait at Fort Hood...

Northern FrontJonathan Rhodes21 January 2003Negotiations between Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with Turkish military leaders in Ankara, have resulted in agreement to base US troops in Turkey to control northern Iraq airspace and protect the Kurds from Iraqi attacks once the invasion begins from the south.  Meyers was quoted: "Turkey has been a very cooperative partner. I would expect them to be in the future as well." The US Army 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), (Ivy Division) the most advanced heavy division in the arsenal, equipped with Abrams tanks, attack helicopters and artillery, is heading a...

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...