Huge / Risky troop rotation ( Iraq & Afghan. ) from Jan-May/ 263,000 involved !!!!!

[MORTARDUDE]

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.j...toryID=4063420

U.S. Prepares for Risky Iraq Troop Rotation
Thu January 1, 2004 10:19 AM ET


By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon is gearing up for a massive rotation of about a quarter million troops in and out of Iraq, a giant logistics chore complicated by concerns about opportunistic attacks targeting Americans as they arrive or depart.

Between late January and May, 123,000 weary U.S. troops will be pulled out of Iraq and replaced with about 110,000 fresh Army soldiers and Marines. In addition, 11,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan will be brought home and replaced with about the same number.

Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, called the rotation "a logistics feat that will rival any in history."

"So there's going to be a lot of turbulence in the system, as you would expect," Myers told reporters recently.

"Turbulence is always undesirable," added Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

A total of 212 U.S. soldiers have been killed in combat since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1. Attacks by insurgents regularly add to the death toll.

Pentagon officials and defense analysts said insurgents fighting U.S.-led occupation forces in Iraq may view the mass arrivals and departures as a unique opportunity to inflict further casualties on Americans.

"The troops will be on the roads, they will be in the skies, and, in general, they will be away from fortified areas in larger numbers than in any time since combat ended," said analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute.

Analyst Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies added: "There's always the risk that some terrorist group or insurgent group can hit a U.S. aircraft either taking off or landing, and this is particularly true during periods of high density when it may not be possible to stagger the aircraft quite as securely as usual."

'AN INVITING TARGET'

A Pentagon official also noted the danger of a spate of deadly vehicle accidents with such a large movement of forces.

Defense officials expressed concern about the wholesale withdrawal of the U.S. forces who have carried the load in Iraq and their replacement with troops and commanders lacking experience in Iraq.
"The turnover of people -- you lose situational awareness, you lose relationships, you lose the experience," Rumsfeld said. "The people going over are ready, but the people there are experienced and really know their stuff. And who would you rather have there?"

"So what we're going to have to do is to manage that transition very carefully. There's going to have to be overlap," he said.

Officials said each arriving unit is due to have a period of at least weeks to work alongside the departing unit to get briefed on terrain, culture and the nature of the enemy in their particular region.

The rotation of people will be accompanied by a change in equipment to better fight an insurgency rather than organized military units. There will be fewer heavy M-1A1 Abrams tanks and Bradley Fighting Vehicles but more lighter armored Humvees intended to protect against rocket-propelled grenades or roadside bombs used by insurgents, officials said.

Departing units include: the Army's 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment from Fort Carson, Colorado; the 1st Armored Division from Germany; the 4th Infantry Division from Fort Hood, Texas; and the 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

The arriving units include: elements of a Marine Expeditionary Force; the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas; the 1st Infantry Division from Germany; and three National Guard combat brigades, from Arkansas, Washington state and North Carolina. Previous

[SuperScout]

... considering the fact that everybody from here to Dallas knows that the Fist Cav, among other units, will be rotating into Iraq in the next few months. Our son #2 is in the 1st Cav, and their preparation to deployment has included rotations at the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, CA, the closest replication to actual live combat sans incoming ordnance.

And on a more personal note, I tend to view dispatches from Reuters with a rather cocky eyebrow, as these are those same folks that slanted if not completely re-wrote news articles coming out of Iraq, to the permanent embarrassment of the original author. And Reuters was also trumpeting the piles of bodybags that were going to be filled as we tried to conquer Iraq, remember?

The rotational philosophy being instituted is driven by several factors, all reasonable, valid and pragmatic. Morale is a vital issue, and its potential if not real degradation is driving the convoy to bring some folks home. But before the combat-tried and true leave, they will be joined at the hip by the newbies, who will probably keep their lip buttoned while absorbing as much as humanly possible.

Another part of the rationale on rotation is reducing the size of the footprint in Iraq, a position yours truly has long held. Guarding a voting site, for example, with a Bradley or an Abrams, is inviting an RPG missle. And the support tail wagged by the big bullet launchers is making for any even larger footprint. the replacing units will not be required to make those mad dashes to the Tigris, where heavy armor, that lovely combat arm of decision, is not needed.

[reeb]

SS,

Have you heard anything about the 980th Eng Bt going over to Iraq?

My X sob son in law says they are going also, but it now not later. He is a reservists, and hasnt been through the training yet to go there.

I got some info from StarTelegram stating all kinds of quotes, but this sob doesnt match any except for the fact that he had to report for his two duty in Nov.

Iraq, Afghanistan
By Chris Vaughn
Star-Telegram Staff Writer

The Army has begun tapping more reservists in Texas to provide support for the Iraqi operation, announcing the impending mobilization of close to 1,500 part-time soldiers from 11 units.

Although some of the soldiers will not have to report until the new year, more than 1,000 have learned that they will spend the Christmas holidays preparing for the rigors of Iraq.

The announcement was made Friday afternoon from the Army Reserve's regional command in Little Rock, Ark.

Like those on active duty, reservists and National Guard members are expected to serve 12 months in the Middle East, plus the weeks or months of training required before they deploy.

The largest unit called up is the 980th Engineer Battalion, with 630 soldiers, who report for duty today and leave for Fort Hood on Wednesday.

The battalion has its headquarters in Austin but has significant elements that train in Dallas and Seagoville.

"We do everything a construction company does," said Maj. Scott Gustafson, the battalion's executive officer. "We build roads, buildings, do electrical, plumbing. We have all the specialties for vertical and horizontal construction."

An additional 90 soldiers from the 354th Medical Company in Seagoville will mobilize Jan. 3 and report to Fort Sam Houston.

Two months later, the 75-soldier 312th Medical Company, also from Seagoville, will be sent to Fort Sam Houston. The 312th is the only Texas unit that will serve in Afghanistan rather than Iraq.

From the Army Reserve's facilities in Grand Prairie, two platoons of 20 soldiers each from the 350th Adjutant General Company will be activated in January and sent to Fort Sill, Okla.

The Army also announced the activation of 130 soldiers from a quartermaster company in McAllen, 80 reservists from a support unit in San Marcos, 150 soldiers from an engineer company in San Antonio and 110 soldiers from an engineer brigade in Bryan.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Vaughn, (817) 390-7547 cvaughn@star-telegram.com


enough..........