Hinesville Coastal Courier April 12, 2004
No word if 3rd will leave early
By Catherine Caruso
"What if" is now "maybe" for 3rd Infantry Division troops concerned that recent events in Iraq may mean their return trip comes earlier than previously planned.
CENTCOM commander Gen. John Abizaid has said he may pair a delayed redeployment of the 1st Armored Division with an earlier return for the 3rd Infantry Division to increase troop levels in the country, the Washington Post reported Friday.
Local commanders received a warning order weeks ago to prepare to deploy within the year.
In a message to troops published in the division's command information newspaper at that time, Gen. William Webster wrote he anticipated the deployment would occur between November and February.
But as attacks against soldiers and foreigners in Iraq have increased, the question of whether the 3rd ID will return early has been asked more and more often.
Part of the answer may have come Thursday, when 1st Armored Division troops preparing to leave Iraq were warned to expect to stay an additional three months, the Associated Press reported.
But on Friday, military officials said higher-ups are still investigating options, both short and long term.
"General Abizaid has said all options are on the table as far as troop rotations to Iraq. A decision has not been made yet," Capt. Bruce Frame, a CENTCOM spokesman, said.
Locally, division staff did not rule out any possibility.
"We don't engage in speculation," said Steve Hart, a Fort Stewart spokesperson. "Should we get an order from the secretary of defense or the president to deploy earlier, then we will execute. The timeline that we have is general in nature, but absolutely, we will deploy earlier if the nation needs us to."
One analyst said he believes an early deployment of the entire division is unlikely.
John Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org, said he doesn't think it makes much sense to send a full extra division into the theater at this point.
"They don't need divisions over there, they need battalions. These are really by and large small unit actions. And I think if they looked around, they could find a lot of battalions lying around (that are not attached to a division)," he said.
Pike said he believes any decision regarding the deployment of additional troops will be at least week away, because military commanders will need time to re-evaluate the situation on the ground.
"Right now, they are talking as if they are regaining control of these towns," he said. "It will either become apparent that this was just a temporary flare-up, that this was just a rerun of the Ramadan offensive last November, or that this has become a whole new war."
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