Another 15,000 U.S. Troops Told to Prepare for Iraq
Fri September 26, 2003 10:11 PM ET
By Charles Aldinger
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Friday activated 10,000 National Guard troops for service in Iraq and put another 5,000 on alert for likely call-up after its appeal for foreign military help met no immediate response.
The 30th Infantry Brigade from North Carolina and the 39th Infantry Brigade from Arkansas, each with 5,000 soldiers, were ordered to join the active duty force on Oct. 1 and Oct. 12 respectively. They will undergo about three months of training before going to Iraq early next year for a full year.
The Army also put the 5,000-strong 81st National Guard Brigade from Washington State on notice for a likely call to active duty in Iraq.
The call-up of the part-time solders from North Carolina and Arkansas for duty in Iraq -- where the United States already has 130,000 troops -- was expected because they had earlier been alerted for probable duty.
The new alert order for the Washington State brigade followed statements by top U.S. officers this week that more National Guard and Reserve troops would likely be needed because of reluctance on the part of other countries to answer President Bush's call for help in stabilizing the country.
Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the nation's second-ranking officer, said on Wednesday that additional call-ups would depend on whether other nations responded to Bush's appeal for troops and on the speed with which Iraqi forces could be trained to help shoulder the burden.
"I would think that by around the end of October, the beginning of November, we should be alerting those (U.S.) forces that may need to be called up ... to relieve or be prepared to relieve if we don't have specificity by then on a third coalition division," the general said.
There are currently two other multinational divisions in Iraq headed by Britain and Poland. The United States is pressing for volunteers to form a third multinational division, but so far they have not come forward.
Reserve and Guard troops are supporting regular U.S. forces in deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, which have put a strain on America's armed forces. Some 20,000 of the "weekend warriors" are in Iraq and in nearby states.
Families of some of the part-time force members have expressed concern about disruptions to their lives. The Pentagon has already said National Guard and reservists now in Iraq and nearby would have to serve there up to a full year, as regular troops do.
The two brigades called to active duty on Friday will serve for a total of 18 months, 12 of them in Iraq. They will be trained and equipped during a three-month period before moving and then come home for three months of demobilization.
The Washington State brigade is unlikely to be called to active duty until November under a new Pentagon plan to put more predictability in the lives of part-time troops, who work in civilian jobs and train on weekends and during the summer.
U.S. Army Gen. John Abizaid, head of the U.S. Central Command and commander of the U.S. military operation in Iraq, said he could not rule out calling up additional troops.
"There are many countries out there talking about it (contributing troops), and we have every hope that that will happen," Pace told reporters earlier in the day. "But hope is not a plan." |
