ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, September 16, 1996 TAG: 9609160046
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
The Clinton administration dispatched another 5,000 Army troops to Kuwait on Friday to man scores of tanks and armored vehicles, raising its show of force against Iraq's Saddam Hussein.
The troops were to be airlifted this weekend from Fort Hood, Texas. The airlift, combined with a second aircraft carrier task force already en route to the Persian Gulf, will raise the U.S. presence in the Persian Gulf to about 32,000.
Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon said sending more soldiers to Kuwait was one part of a package put together days ago by the president's national security team.
``Every decision that's been executed this week was made a week ago today, and we've just been following through with a deployment plan to strengthen our deterrent forces in the area,'' Bacon said in an interview.
The troop deployment was announced hours after Saddam's offer to stop targeting U.S. jets flying over Iraq. The jets are patrolling a no-fly zone expanded last week after Saddam moved forces against his own Kurdish population in the north.
The White House was unimpressed with the Iraqi announcement.
``We'll be looking at actions, not statements, from Baghdad,'' press secretary Mike McCurry said.
The 3rd Brigade of the Army's 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood - consisting of about 5,000 soldiers - will join 1,200 soldiers that have been exercising in Kuwait since August. They will continue the military exercise for three months.
The troops, led by Col. Eric Olson, will bring out of storage 110 M1-A1 tanks and 125 M2-A2 Bradley fighting vehicles already positioned in Kuwait and will take part in exercise ``Intrinsic Action,'' a desert war game.
``This is part of prudent efforts to protect our interests in the gulf,'' said Pentagon spokesman Sam Grizzle.
Dispatching more troops is the latest in a series of moves ordered by President Clinton to dissuade Saddam from flexing his military against U.S. and allied forces in the region.
Earlier Friday, the Air Force dispatched 18 F-16Cs from Moody Air Force Base in Georgia to Saudi Arabia. They had been scheduled to relieve a group of F-16s from Hill Air Force Base in Utah that had been on station there, but the Utah aircraft are being kept in the region, said Maj. Wes Davis.
Eight radar-evading F-117A stealth fighter bombers that took off Thursday from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., arrived late Friday in Kuwait.
The Pentagon said a second aircraft carrier, the USS Enterprise, and about 150 soldiers with two anti-missile Patriot units stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, also were being sent to the gulf.
Accompanying the Enterprise with its 78 aircraft aboard are the guided missile cruiser USS Gettysburg, the attack submarine USS Norfolk, the destroyer USS Stump, the frigate USS Stephen W. Groves, and two support ships.
When these latest moves are completed, there will be about 19,000 Navy, 6,200 Army, and 7,000 Air Force personnel in the Gulf, compared with a total U.S. military presence of 19,000 in the region now.
The new Army deployment to Kuwait consists of two ``maneuver battalions'' of 800 to 900 soldiers each to man the tanks and armored vehicles. Accompanying the battalions are a field headquarters unit, self-propelled artillery, and air-defense troops equipped with Stinger shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles.
The deployment also includes service and support troops such as maintenance and refueling teams, said Army Lt. Col. Ray Whitehead. The U.S. troops will continue conducting maneuvers with Kuwaiti forces.
``You've got 2,000 to 2,500 shooters and an equal number of supporters,'' Whitehead said.
The troops will join an exercise that began Aug. 10 and was scheduled to conclude Dec. 15. The exercise, the third this year in Kuwait, is not expected to take the forces close to the Iraqi border.
There are about 130 U.S. warplanes in the region. Another 157 warplanes and helicopters are aboard the two aircraft carriers. Already in the Gulf is the carrier USS Carl Vinson.
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. A Kurdish Democratic Party fighter stands next toby CNBthe symbol of the rival Patriotic Union of Kurdistan at sunset in
Irbil, Iraq, Friday. 2. Airman 1st Class Shane Haney operates the
fuel boom on a KC-135 tanker while refueling a stealth fighter above
Missouri on Thursday. color.