I was kind of thinking with the security concerns for our rear forces that we should possibly move either the 10th mountain division or 82nd airborne to Iraq as rear security for our long supply lines. Both are light infantry divisions and can be effectively deployed in less than 1 week. This would allow the 101st Airborne to move forward and reinforce the 3rd ID and free them up for more offensive operations.
From what I've read and heard, the US was hoping that Turkey would come around and allow us to move our troops aross the territory, which would allow us to open up and 3rd from from the north into Bagdhad. This would have spread out Iraq's forces more thinly and probably made it easier for us to take Baghad with a lower # of casualties. Well, Turkey didnt come through. We have a HUGE amount of ground equipment sitting in ships in the Meditteranean that were waiting. I believe it was the 4th Infantry Division, which is comparable in size to the 3rd (not total sure on the name of that division). The latest is, the ships in the Med that have all this ground equipment for this division are going to have to make a trip through the Suez Canal and go around Saudia Arabia and into the Persian Gulf. This would take several weeks.
I know about the 4th I.D but it's going to be 3 weeks most likely before they're operational. We can move a light infantry division and have it operational in less than 1 week. 3 weeks is a LONG time for a desert war.
The 4th infantry division at Ft. Hood were told yesterday that the were leaving at the end of the week. All their equipement is there. I can't remember if there are 12,000 or 30,000 leaving Ft. Hood this week.
I heard from some retired PFC nobody on the news they'd be ready to go by Sunday. Maybe they meant they'd be there by Sunday.
The 4th in Fort Hood is sending like 30,000+ troops, they are the infantry with the most technology. DD
We could have, but they would not have had any machinery (tanks, etc.). Our equipment is in the Med right now and I am assuming, heading to the Persian Gulf which will take a few weeks. Our troops can be their immediately. Their equipment is an entirely different story. Cometscrazy, Are you sure about that? Again, the information I have read says that the equipment is in The Med and wont be able to get into Iraq for a few weeks.
I live near Ft. Hood and the local news reported last night that they were leaving. BUT, this is the same ID that was told they were leaving a few weeks ago. So I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
rockHEAD ....do you have some inside information?????????????????????????? THIS JUST IN (from CNN): 173rd Airborne to Parachute into N. Iraq
Parachuting, and we were building airports in Kurdish Iraq prior to the war.....watch for the endless line of C-5 transport planes to begin any day now. And, notice that we do not have any media up there.....I think the Northern front is our trump card, and Saddam has no info on it. Go USA. DD
4th I.D. personel are heading over but their equipment is still on ships in the med sea. They're a heavy division. Think of them as an equivalent of 1st cav or 3rd I.D. 82nd Airborne has one battalion of light tanks that can be airdropped.
haha.. no inside info. i just thought they could parachute in and i've seen the military drop vehicles, crates with supplies and jeeps from big @ss airplanes and parachutes
Ft, Hood's 4th ID is leaving for Iraq tomorrow morning. Just saw it on the local news. They will perform maintenance on their equipement first then help out with the ground war.
<a HREF="http://www.news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=364122003">Midnight raid sees US army seize key airfield</a> <i> THE United States last night signalled its intention to open a long-awaited northern new front against Saddam Hussein’s regime. In one of the largest airborne infantry operations in decades, US paratroopers seized an airfield in the north of the country shortly after dawn. About 1,000 US paratroopers from the US Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vicenza, Italy, parachuted into Kurdish-controlled territory under the cover of darkness, military officials said. The officials characterised the region where the drop occurred as “semi-permissive”, meaning it was not hostile. The 1st Battalion, 63rd Armour, part of the US 1st Infantry Division, equipped with Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles, was expected to be airlifted into northern Iraq as soon as the airfield was secure. Witnesses in the area described vehicles carrying coalition special forces officers into a Kurdish military command post. Kurds near the Bakrajo airstrip, six miles west of Sulaymaniyah, said several planes with military personnel also arrived. Senior Kurdish officials have said that the planes, landing almost nightly, carry US special forces operatives who could take part in a ground offensive against Ansar, a Muslim extremist group believed to have links to Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda network and possibly to Saddam’s regime. Coalition war planes yesterday intensified bombing raids on Ansar positions in the north of the country. Khosrow Gul Mohammad, the security chief for the Sulaymaniyah Kurdish government in northern Iraq, reported bombings on the villages of Biyare, Ansar’s headquarters, and Sargat, the site of an alleged Ansar chemical factory identified by Colin Powell, the US Secretary of State in February. A ground offensive to unseat Ansar could begin within days. Northern Iraq is controlled by rival Kurdish factions and is protected from Saddam’s army by US and British aircraft that have patrolled a no-fly zone since a failed Kurdish uprising following the last Gulf war. However, the Ansar militia operates outside the control of Kurdish forces, and Kurdish officials have sought US assistance in driving the group from its mountain stronghold near the Iranian border............. </i> Abrams tanks weigh +60 tons, so airlifting an entire Armored Division would require a tremendous amount of lift capacity.
4 ID's equipment is on 36 ships that are currently transiting to Kuwait. The troops have started flying out. We have the 4 ID, 1 CAV, and 3 ACR all waiting to go. 4 ID will be there soon, the others will take longer.
Treeman, The US has always had an overwhelming force doctrine, this is the first war where they tried to do a quick surgical strike. I think the planners grossly underestimated the Iraqi regime and its ability to make people fight, by terror tactics or otherwise. All these new troops say to me that we are going back with what brung us.....overwhelming force. Anyone for a Siege of Baghdad? DD
