Reuters February 05, 2003
Fact File: The Allied troops in the Gulf
London - The US military, preparing for a possible war with Iraq, said on Wednesday that it had called up nearly 17 000 more Reserve troops, bringing the total number of reservists on active duty to more than 111 000.
The latest mobilisation means that nearly 10 percent of the United States' 1,2 million reservists have now been summoned to active duty.
The following US and British forces are in or near the Middle East and could be used in any US-led attack on Iraq.
US Navy
The aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and its battle group of seven warships is sailing towards the Gulf. Also in the battle group are: the guided missile cruisers USS Anzio and USS Cape St. George; guided missile destroyers USS Arleigh Burke, USS Porter and USS Winston Churchill; the guided missile frigate USS Carr; and the fast-combat support ship USNS Arctic, officials said. The group is carrying 8 000 troops.
The Theodore Roosevelt and the USS Abraham Lincoln, which sailed from Australia, are joining two other aircraft carriers already in the region: the USS Constellation in the Gulf, and the USS Harry S Truman in the Mediterranean Sea.
According to Global Security.org there are about 15 500 Marines en route to the Gulf aboard three major task forces and around 20 000 sailors and aviators attached to the carrier battle groups and amphibious task forces.
Carriers typically deploy about 75 planes. Each warship is shepherded by a half-dozen or so cruisers, destroyers and submarines with long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.
The hospital ship Comfort sailed for the region this month.
The carrier USS George Washington, which returned to Virginia from the Gulf in December, could also go to the region along with the Kitty Hawk, based in Japan, or perhaps the Carl Vinson, conducting exercises off the US Pacific coast.
US Personnel
US military sources say that more than 150 000 US personnel will be poised around Iraq by the end of February.
On January 11, orders were signed sending thousands of Marines, an army airborne infantry brigade, a squadron of air force F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighters and two squadrons of F-16CJ radar-jamming fighters.
On January 17 the amphibious assault ships USS Boxer and USS Bonhomme Richard were joined by the amphibious transport docks USS Cleveland and USS Dubuque, and the dock landing ships USS Anchorage, USS Comstock and USS Pearl Harbor.
On January 21 the Pentagon ordered a further 37 000 troops to deploy: the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Hood, Texas, and other supporting units including the division's 3rd Brigade at Fort Carson, Colorado, were among those who will go to the Gulf.
At least 17 US navy and chartered ships loaded with armour and other supplies for the US army and Marine Corps are anchored at the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia.
The Defence Department said on Wednesday that 16 979 additional reservists had been called to active duty in the past week, bringing the total Reserve and National Guard troops on active duty to 111 603.
The weekly Pentagon announcement on Reserve and National Guard troops on duty included the following totals: Army 80 002 Marine Corps 12 283 Air Force 11 729 Navy 5 604 Coast Guard 1 985.
Central Command
A mobile "CentCom" command post has been shipped to Al Udeid air base near Doha in Qatar and staffed by over 1 000 US communications personnel and several hundred British counterparts. It is to remain in Qatar and is likely to be the command and control centre in the event of any attack on Iraq.
Air Bases
F-117A "Nighthawk" stealth fighters left the Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico on February 3. It is not known how many of the 50 F-117A jets that are part of the 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman were deployed nor their exact destination.
The air force has begun sending B-1B bombers from Ellsworth, South Dakota. It is also sending F-15C fighters, F-15E attack jets, Predator unmanned spyplanes and radar aircraft.
Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul has said his government would seek parliamentary authority for US forces to modernise bases in Turkey for use by US and British jets. These would join 200 other US F-15, F-16 and A-10 strike jets and F-117 stealth fighters that would be based in Gulf states.
The United States has bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Djibouti and Saudi Arabia.
The US air force has built facilities for radar-evading B-2 stealth bombers on Diego Garcia. The island, aboout 5 350 km from Baghdad, is home to Vietnam War-era B-52 heavy bombers, upgraded to drop satellite- and laser-guided "smart" bombs.
British Forces
Britain has so far announced commitments of about 35 000 military personnel for a possible war on Iraq and said it would begin loading tanks from Germany onto 20 to 30 ships this week.
Britain's main ground fighting force will be led by 1 UK Armoured Division headquarters, deployed with one of its two brigades, 7th Armoured Brigade, the "Desert Rats," with 3 400 combat troops, 120 Challenger-2 tanks and 150 Warrior armoured fighting vehicles. These are likely to be based in Kuwait as part of the main allied armoured assault force.
Britain will also send the 16th Air Assault Brigade of 2 100 helicopter-mobile paratroops.
At sea, Britain has sent a 16-ship naval flotilla with its largest amphibious task force since the 1982 Falklands War, carrying 4 000 elite Royal Marines from 3 Commando Brigade, capable of deploying by helicopter or surface landing craft.
The naval fleet, manned by 5 000 sailors, is led by the aircraft carriers Ark Royal and Ocean, both equipped with troop-carrying helicopters rather than fixed-wing jets.
The British Royal Air Force is likely to increase its presence as well. It currently has warplanes helping patrol no-fly zones over northern and southern Iraq.
Copyright © 2003, Reuters
