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US Forces Order of Battle
Saturday, October 14, 2000

This is a "best available" order-of-battle of forces deployed in CENTCOM's part of Southwest Asia, as well as EUCOM forces in Turkey participating in Operation Northern Watch. Over time, the amount of publicly available information concerning aircraft types and specific units has diminished to the point that it is not presently possible to provide a particularly high fidelity profile of current deployments [CENTAF has not updated its deployment information since early 1998]. There are evidently significant gaps in unit identifications, as well as non-trivial uncertainties as to numbers of specific types of aircraft. Although the Naval forces are reported with considerable fidelity, the Air Force and Army force levels and units are increasingly conjectural.

Current contingency operations are estimated to entail annual costs of about $1 billion.

There are probably about 25,000 military personnel in the CENTCOM area, including a Brigade sized Army unit in Kuwait [about 5,000 soldiers], approximately 5,000 Air Force personnel, between 13,000-15,000 sailors and Marines [the Navy provides the lower number which does not include civilians, while a direct count suggests the higher number], and joint headquarters and other joint units comprised of 1,000 people. The number of troops deployed in the area fluctuates on a daily basis, and has averaged between 20,000 and 25,000 in recent years. Naval force personnel levels have varied between 8,000 and 15,000, while Army training exercises routinely deploy upwards of 1,500 troops for periods of a few weeks. The EUCOM Area of Responsibility includes approximately 1,000 Air Force personnel at Incrilik AB Turkey, flying Operation North Watch patrols.

Forces in the region include land and carrier-based aircraft, surface warships, a Patriot missile battalion, a mechanized battalion task force, and a mix of special operations forces deployed in support of US Central Command operations. To enhance force protection throughout the region, additional military security personnel are also deployed. Currently, there are about 200 combatant and direct support aircraft in the Iraq [CENTCOM and EUCOM] Area of Responsibility, which total includes air to air, air to ground, dual role, direct support, and attack helicopters. Additional aircraft not included in this total include indirect support aircraft. The number of aircraft typically reported by CENTCOM and DOD normally only covers those conducting "imminent danger" missions, and does not include other support aircraft that would not face the prospect of hostile fire.

A total of 738 Vertical Launch System cells are available for Tomahawk cruise missiles, which is roughly twice the average number typically deployed in recent years. Based on estimates of prior deployments, perhaps as many as 400 Tomahawks are actually deployed. The cruise missile force can be augmented significantly within days.

Sources and Methods

• Order of Battle Notes