U.S. Army Airborne Division May Head to Gulf
reuters.com
Thu February 6, 2003 01:28 PM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division has sent helicopters to Florida from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, ahead of possible deployment to the Gulf region if President Bush orders an invasion of Iraq, the military said on Thursday.
The division, nicknamed the "Screaming Eagles," has moved different types of helicopters along with a liaison team to the Port of Jacksonville at Jacksonville Naval Air Station to prepare to load the aircraft onto ships "should the need arise," said Fort Campbell spokesman John Minton.
The division played a key role in the 1991 Gulf War and was deployed in Afghanistan last year.
"We're leaning forward in the foxhole, pretty sure something's going to happen, just not sure when," Minton said.
The division has not yet received its formal deployment orders, Minton added.
The move comes as the United States builds up a large military force in the Gulf region for a possible war with Iraq. U.S. defense officials say about 110,000 U.S. troops already are in the region, with tens of thousands more set to arrive by the middle of the month. The United States has numerous warplanes and warships in the region.
Three aircraft carriers are within striking range of Iraq -- the USS Abraham Lincoln and the USS Constellation in the Gulf, and the USS Harry S. Truman in the Mediterranean Sea. A fourth aircraft carrier, the USS Theodore Roosevelt, set sail for the region on Tuesday.
Minton said the 101st Airborne Division includes about 16,000 soldiers and four types of helicopters: the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter; the UH-60 Black Hawk transport helicopter; and the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior armed reconnaissance helicopter.
"Our primary mission is to conduct operations using air assault technique, that is rappelling out of helicopters," Minton added. "We're a rapid deployment force. We have the largest aviation brigade in the United States Army."
Bush has said the United States will lead a coalition to topple Saddam Hussein if the Iraqi president fails to comply with U.N. resolutions requiring him to give up any weapons of mass destruction. Iraq denies possessing such arms. |
