The Courier-Journal November 17, 2002
State Army posts at center of war plan
By Michael A. Lindenberger
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- If President Bush decides to go to war in Iraq like his father before him, few places in America will heed the call to battle as quickly, or feel the sting of sudden separation as deeply, as this sprawling Army post on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.
Eleven years after it sent 25,000 soldiers to help kick Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait, military experts say Fort Campbell is certain to play a lead role in any fighting should diplomacy give way to another war in the desert.
The post, the Army's third largest -- behind Fort Bragg and Fort Hood -- is home to the 101st Airborne division and its famed Apache helicopter assault units, as well as to a Special Forces unit and a separate, elite aviation unit called the Night Stalkers.
The post's unique role is a point of pride for its soldiers, but that hasn't kept family and friends in the community from worrying about what war would mean for the approximately 45,000 soldiers stationed here.
''I think something is going to happen,'' said Lynne Mitchell, who lives on the post with her husband, a soldier of 16 years, and her 9-year-old son. She said rumors about potential deployments make her nervous.
''You hear things, maybe about other units being put on notice, and you wonder what that means.''
Though a military buildup is under way in the Middle East, President Bush has yet to order troops to fight in Iraq, and experts in Kentucky and Washington say war can be avoided if Saddam disarms completely.
Secretary of State Colin Powell said a decision regarding an attack could be months away, as observers wait to see how Iraq responds to the presence of United Nations inspectors. On Wednesday, Iraq accepted a tough, new U.N. resolution that will bring weapons inspectors back to the country after nearly four years. An advance team is set to arrive in Baghdad tomorrow.
But diplomatic efforts have not ended speculation about what war would mean at Fort Campbell, home to the 101st Airborne Screaming Eagles, which experts say would play a major role in Iraq.
Gene E. Glascock, airfield commander at Fort Campbell, said planes have been taking off and landing every day since the war against terrorism began. So far, 30,000 soldiers from around the world have passed through the airfield on their way to and from Afghanistan and other locations.
''When they brought the 101st back from Afghanistan six months ago, that's the first thing I thought: They're coming back to be retrained and retooled,'' said Christopher Hellman, senior analyst for international relations at The Center for Defense Information in Washington, D.C.
Kentucky's posts ready
Fort Campbell won't be the only group from Kentucky playing a role in a second Iraq war. Fort Knox officials expect their soldiers to be involved, too, but in a less dramatic way. If the president decides on war, soldiers and officers at both posts said, they're ready. But that's a political decision, not a military one, said Brig. Gen. Robert Mixon, deputy commanding general at Fort Knox.
Sen. Jim Bunning, R-Ky., said that Congress already has given Bush all the authority he needs to send in the military.
The president's decision depends on whether Saddam follows through in good faith with the inspections, Bunning said.
''I think he probably will do the shell game, like he did with so many other United Nations resolutions,'' said Bunning, a member of the Senate Armed Forces Committee.
Under previous U.N. resolutions, and as part of the cease-fire agreement in the Gulf War, Iraq had been obligated to cooperate with teams of inspectors looking for biological, chemical or nuclear weapons. The inspections were stopped after the Clinton administration concluded that Iraqi interference prevented them from doing their job.
Tim Brown, a senior defense analyst for globalsecurity.org, a think tank based in the Washington area that supplies highly sophisticated military and diplomatic information to academics, journalists and others, said planners were expecting Saddam to agree to the U.N. inspectors -- which he did last week -- but he will likely fall out of the strict compliance insisted upon by the United States.
''That sets up a scenario that is pretty ugly,'' Bunning said. ''It looks like the U.S. would then have to go in and enforce the resolution.
''What does that mean for Fort Campbell and Fort Knox? It means there is a lot of very important business to be done there, particularly at Fort Campbell.''
Waiting to find out just what that business will be can be hard for the soldiers at the two posts, as well as for their families.
Jeremy Logan, 21, whose wife, an Army nurse, left for Kuwait last weekend, said he is not certain what's going to happen. ''We have a 4-year-old son, and we're not sure what we'll do if I get sent over, too. We're in a sticky situation, and one of us might have to get out.''
Brown, the defense analyst, said America has been building strength in the Persian Gulf for weeks, and may be in a position to strike much faster at Iraq than in 1991, when the United States waited months for a full deployment. For Fort Campbell alone, just getting its equipment to a port in Jacksonville, Fla., required nearly 1,800 tractor-trailer loads and more than 1,000 rail cars. Once there, the land forces required about 1 million gallons of fuel per day.
About 48,000 troops are within striking distance of Iraq now, part of a slow but steady buildup of troops and equipment.
Bunning said media predictions about what's going to happen in Iraq, and when, are guesses.
''I get briefed often, including topsecret briefings, as a member of the committee, and I don't know what's going to happen,'' he said. ''So how would the media know?''
Prepared to strike fast
Bob Nichols, a retired command sergeant major for the 101st Airborne, remembers how close he and his fellow soldiers came to taking Baghdad in the Gulf War, perhaps preventing the current threat.
Nichols, a Vietnam veteran who manages the Fort Campbell museum, said the 101st played a huge role in the quick success of the American-led coalition that won the Gulf War in 1991. The 101st, with its tank-killing firepower, was able to move faster from one battle to another than other, land-based forces, he said.
The 101st was the third unit to arrive in Saudi Arabia, behind only the Marines and the 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg. Soldiers in the 82nd division parachute into battle from planes; the 101st jumps from helicopters and can remain mobile throughout the fight. The 101st was the first unit to complete its deployment to Saudi Arabia, Nichols said.
Fort Knox sent 2,000 soldiers to fight in the Gulf War, and processed 25,000 others.
If there is another war, Maj. Gen. Steve Whitcomb, Fort Knox's commanding general, said his post expects to play a role in preparing active and Reserve troops.
''The size of the mobilization being discussed (in Washington) suggests that a number of reservists and soldiers could come here for training before deployment,'' Whitcomb said. Pentagon officials have said at least 100,000 troops would be mobilized.
Highly skilled tank crewmen from Fort Knox also could be individually assigned to go overseas to serve in tanks, spokesman John Rickey said.
But Fort Knox's role will not rival that of Fort Campbell's, nor, most likely, its own history in 1991. Since 1996, Fort Knox has been dedicated to training soldiers and officers and no longer has a fighting division stationed there.
Brown and Hellman said the next Gulf War, should it come about, likely will emphasize air power and quick, highly mobile ground and helicopterbased forces. About 500,000 troops were in the Middle East during the Gulf War. This time, there will be far fewer soldiers in the Middle East, strategists predict. Media reports range from 80,000 to 100,000 ground troops with a couple of hundred thousand held in reserve.
Brown said his research suggests that those numbers likely are accurate.
''Iraq is not the threat it used to be,'' Brown said. ''Its army is not nearly as strong. And, we can do a lot more with less.''
The first phase of the war, like the last one, will be a massive airstrike. This time the planes will carry more guided missiles, and pilots will fly only a fraction of the sorties compared with the last action.
Once those bombing raids knock out the stronger anti-aircraft forces and command and communication centers, small forces from the 101st Airborne and other light divisions likely are to be used to hold key forward positions, Brown and Hellman said. Larger, slower divisions of the Army would follow.
But Brown advises not to look for the kind of massive deployment of tanks that in the past would have rolled up to Baghdad and laid siege to the city. Instead, he said, smaller forces likely will combat Saddam's forces in smaller melees.
One of those smaller forces could be the battle-ready brigade at Fort Campbell. The post keeps a force of about 5,000 soldiers on ready-to-deploy status.
Families worried
If the order for deployment comes, the soldiers are ready. It is the length of those potential operations abroad that has families worried.
In the Gulf War, ground forces were engaged for only a few days, but soldiers were there for seven to nine months or longer.
That has some family members anxious. Diana Drosco's husband of four years has been in Korea for several months on a yearlong deployment, and she is worried that he will be in Iraq before he comes home. ''Of course I'd be sad,'' she said, waiting for friends outside the U.S. Cavalry uniform and supply store frequented by soldiers. ''All of my friends here are soldiers' wives, and we'd just have to support each other. We all talk about it now and are making plans.''
Jessica Bellew, 21, formerly of Louisiana and a former Marine Corps recruiter, said she worries for her 10month-old son and the child she is carrying now. Her husband is due to be discharged from the 101st in August, but she doesn't think he will be allowed to leave.
''I am glad I am out,'' she said. ''People who joined up in the last few years, we didn't think about the possibility that we might have to go to war someday, actually go to war. People signed up for the college money, and for pride, to wear the uniform. But we didn't think about this.''
Now she says she wonders how she will be able to care for two babies if her husband is sent to fight in Iraq.
''We just moved here, and I don't really know anyone yet,'' she said. ''My husband and I haven't really discussed it. He says he doesn't like to talk about it, but we need to.''
Bunning said even painful considerations such as those facing soldiers' loved ones are secondary to the more grave issues of national security.
''I had a son in the service during the Gulf War, and I voted to support it even though I knew he was going to be sent,'' he said. ''We all have to remember that this is just one step in the war against terrorism.
''Whether you like it or admit it, it is.''
© Copyright 2002 The Courier-Journal
