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US Forces Order of Battle
As of Tuesday 30 November 1999

This is a "best available" order-of-battle of forces currently 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, and there are evidently significant gaps in unit identifications, as well as non trivial uncertainties as to numbers of specific types of aircraft.

Although Operation Desert Fox ended in December 1998, as of 01 November 1999 the US and its allies have flown a total of 28,000 sorties, and expended over 1,800 bombs and missiles in strikes against 450 separate targets in Iraq.

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

There are probably over 20,000 military personnel in the CENTCOM area, including 2,600 soldiers, about 8,000 sailors and Marines, and joint headquarters and other joint units comprised of 1,000 people. 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. The cruise missile force can be augmented significantly within days.

Sources and Methods

• Order of Battle Notes