The Miami Herald February 1, 2003
Florida's Guard and Reserve preparing thousands for war;
Number of call-ups for action in the Gulf second only to Texas
By Phil Long and Elaine De Valle
'IT'S A LOT OF PRIDE BEING ABLE TO STEP UP TO THE CHALLENGE'
As departure for the Persian Gulf nears, Pvt. Jason DeSouza of Dania Beach and 1,800 other Florida National Guard soldiers on a Georgia Army base are being tested this week.
How quickly can they don chemical protection suits? Can they identify serious battlefield wounds? How skilled are they at using a variety of weapons? How well do they understand chemical weapons response tactics?
DeSouza, 24, a grocery stocker for Publix, and his colleagues in the Miami-based First Battalion of the 124th Infantry are fine-tuning years of specialized desert, chemical warfare and other training that has made their battalion one of the first National Guard units in the country to be called to active duty in the buildup for the war on terrorism.
Numbers released by the Pentagon this week show that more Florida National Guard and reservists have been called to active duty -- 5,320 as of Wednesday, when official counts were last updated -- than any other state except Texas, where just eight more than Florida have been mobilized. ''We get to show what the Florida National Guard can do,'' DeSouza said. 'It's a lot of pride being able to step up to the challenge and having them call you and say, 'OK. We need you now.' ''
OTHER RESERVES
Not yet included in the weekly count are 60 Army Reserve soldiers of the 228th Transportation Company in Palatka. The reservists, who specialize in long-haul fuel delivery in 18-wheel tankers, were ordered on Friday to head for Fort Benning, Ga.
Soon, many of the 1,500 reservists from the 84th Fighter Wing of F-16 jets at Homestead Reserve Air Base will be activated for a long-scheduled three-month stint over the Iraqi Southern No-Fly Zone. Hundreds more from the Florida Air National Guard's 125th Fighter Wing based in Jacksonville will be deployed for a similar mission soon afterward.
Florida is contributing so many reservists and Guard members because many have more training than their counterparts in other states and because Florida has several ''critical units,'' said Patrick Garrett, analyst for GlobalSecurity.org, a nonprofit organization that studies defense issues.
HIGHLY TRAINED
For example, DeSouza's 124th is recognized as one of the most highly trained state National Guard units in the country, Garrett said. The combat unit probably will remain in Iraq as a stabilizing force after the initial fighting stops, he said.
Florida also has specialty units like the 143rd Army Reserve transportation command from Orlando -- the only detachment of its kind in the country.
Those soldiers will play a key role in deciding how to receive and distribute massive shipments of equipment and supplies in Southwest Asia, Garrett said.
''These are the transportation logistics people,'' he explained. ''You can't think about planning for a war without them.''
TANK FIGHTERS
Military police like the 724th Military Police from Fort Lauderdale and support and administrative units like the Army Reserve 3220th Garrison Support Unit from West Palm Beach are in high demand. So are tank fighting Marine reservists like Miami's Eighth Marine Battalion, now training in North Carolina.
It's not that other states don't have units with similar specialties or capabilities, said Jay Farrar, a military analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington D.C. It's that Florida has more.
SPECIALTY TROOPS
The units called up in Florida ''are the specialties -- military police, civil affairs, transportation, logistics, medical -- that any effort in a situation like Iraq is going to require greater numbers than are resident in the active force,'' Farrar said.
''It's a compliment to the reservists because they are very capable people,'' Farrar said. ''They bring tremendous skill sets to the equation.''
Edward Dreyer, a University of Miami professor and expert on U.S. military history, said it is no surprise that the government is calling heavily on reserves.
''Since we're looking here for a sustained occupation, we're going to need a lot of people like military police and engineers, people who do construction, who you wouldn't want full-timers for,'' Dreyer said.
BETTER PREPARED
Brigadier General Jimmy Watson, assistant adjutant general of Florida, said the Pentagon and Department of Defense recognize that the state's Army and National Guard units are more prepared for war. The three battalions of the 124th Infantry, for example, received increased training in recent years.
''So we anticipated . . . that if there was a need for National Guard reserves in 2003 and 2004, it would be our unit because of the level of training,'' Watson said.
Another reason Florida's units are attractive is their on-the-job training.
ALWAYS READY
''Hardly a year goes by that we don't need the National Guard to come and help with a state emergency'' such as hurricanes, Watson said. ''Some National Guard units in other states don't get called up for years and years and years. We have to be ready all the time.''
In addition to reservists and National Guard soldiers, Florida is involved in other aspects of the military preparations:
* At the Canaveral Air Force Station, the Air Force on Wednesday launched a state-of-the-art Global Positioning Satellite that will pinpoint the locations of troops and their targets.
* Sixty-four Florida-based Coast Guard personnel, including crews from Key West and Miami, were in Portsmouth, Va., preparing to leave for Southwest Asia. All have experience in port security and drug and migrant interdiction. Three 110-foot cutters from Florida were hoisted aboard transport ships for the trip.
* The state is also home to the Central Command (CENTCOM), the nerve center for all military operation in Southwest Asia and the Persian Gulf region.
* Bases in the Panhandle house key weapons and aircraft testing facilities for equipment likely to be used in war.
* Because of the proximity of shores where they can train, the Marine Reserves have two large amphibian assault units in Florida.
* Not all the Florida personnel are going overseas. More than 600 Florida National Guard members from the 265th Air Defense Artillery and 146th Signal Battalion will strengthen security patrols and several other Air Force bases in the state.
They were ordered Friday to report to Fort Stewart on Sunday for two weeks' training.
Many more Florida reservists and guard personnel anticipate being called up.
AWAITING WORD
In South Florida, 1,500 members of the 42nd Fighter Wing of the Air Force Reserve are awaiting word on how many of them will be assigned to air patrols over Iraq.
For about two years they have known they would be called up for a three-month deployment flying missions in the southern No-Fly Zone south of Baghdad.
''It is a regularly-scheduled deployment whose timing in conjunction with world events has made it a significant thing,'' said Maj. Thomas Davis, the Fighter Wing's spokesman.
SERIOUS MISSION
Soldiers say they are proud of Florida's role. But as the time to depart draws closer, so does the gravity of what faces them.
''Every moment, all the time, we talk about how serious it is going to be,'' said DeSouza, the Dania Beach guardsman. ''You're starting to see it on people's faces the closer we get to actually leaving.
''You can see it in their eyes.''
Copyright © 2003, The Miami Herald
