The Tennessean February 16, 2003
Fort Campbell soldiers packing up, moving out
By LEON ALLIGOOD
Staff Writer
FORT CAMPBELL - When the 101st Airborne Division was officially deployed with orders to report for a possible conflict on the other side of the globe, this giant Army post began packing with abandon.
Precise abandon.
''It's a very complicated strategic process. This is very organized. It must be, or it would degenerate into chaos,'' Maj. Matt Redding said.
It's a herculean venture, to be certain, like moving the residents from a town the size of Lebanon, population about 21,000, along with enough goods to sustain them for several months. And accomplishing that feat in a matter of days.
Everything the troops might need on the front lines and the rear encampments, from twin-blade Chinook cargo helicopters to a fleet of Humvees, from ammunition to spare parts, from medical supplies to communications equipment, has been prepared for movement via ships to the Persian Gulf.
Even kitchen sinks ... for mobile kitchens.
What the 101st can do in a short time never fails to impress retired Lt. Gen. William ''Gus'' Pagonis, who directed the logistics of Desert Shield/Desert Storm fighting during 1991. He is considered one of the foremost authorities on military logistics by many experts.
The retired general, now a resident of Chicago, where he is head of logistics for Sears, compared deployment activities of a large division such as the 101st with conducting a symphony.
''The trumpets know when to come in at the right place. Everybody knows how loud they have to be, but everybody's playing the same tune,'' Pagonis said.
''What people don't realize is that we have the best-trained Army in the world. These kids practice; they rehearse all the time. They train for this, over and over. They practice driving their vehicles onto the rail car and staking them down.''
Meanwhile, individual soldiers have put their personal affairs in order, including writing or revising wills, receiving immunizations and packing personal gear, including new desert camouflage uniforms.
During the past two weeks, almost 300 Fort Campbell helicopters have been flown to Jacksonville Naval Air Station near Jacksonville, Fla., broken down for travel and then transferred to Military Sealift Command transport ships docked near a spit of land called Blount Island in the St. Johns River.
The USNS Dahl and USNS Bob Hope, part of the command's newest class of cargo transport ships that feature roll-on/roll-off capability, arrived off Jacksonville early last week.
Hundreds of rail cars have been loaded with the division's rolling stock of about 3,800 trucks, Humvees and other vehicles. Materiel such as medical supplies, food and spare parts has been forwarded to the same destination via about 400 tractor-trailers.
One or both of the loaded ships were scheduled to sail as early as yesterday, headed for a location somewhere in the Persian Gulf, according to the Web site GlobalSecurity.org, which catalogs military movements on a daily basis. The cruise is expected to take two to three weeks.
Retired Maj. Gen. Robert Scales said deployment was ''something the American Army does extremely well.''
In addition, Scales, author of Yellow Smoke - The Future of Land Warfare for America's Military, said the Army had made deployment a tool in the conflict with Iraq. The Bush administration is threatening to use force against the country if it does not disarm.
''The strategic war has already begun. Getting there is part of the war. What it does is send a message to the Iraqis that this huge, highly competent force is already on its way. That whole process of psychological intimidation begins with strategic movement,'' Scales said from his Maryland home.
U.S. troops massing on Iraq's borders send a clear message, said Scales, who recalled interviews that he had with Iraqi soldiers in 1993 for a study on the Gulf War.
''They saw a huge mass of men and materiel begin to arrive from 6,000 to 7,000 miles away with such efficiency and speed. They said they knew they were in big trouble, that they were playing out of their league.''
Troops at Fort Campbell, by their rapid deployment, are sending a similar message to Iraq.
''You can bet they are taking notice,'' Scales said.
However, Pagonis, who fought with the 101st in Vietnam, said the deployment differed from how the Army responded in 1991, when units from all over the world shipped into the Gulf simultaneously.
''We were in defensive posture, preparing for him to attack and not knowing when he was going to attack. Remember, too, that CNN was telling him (Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein) everything that was going on,'' Pagonis said.
This time the deployment has been more deliberate, averaging several thousand troops a week since the first of the year.
''It's a different logistical operation. This time we're going to determine when we're going to attack,'' he said.
While CNN might offer details on troop movements, there will be the element of surprise because ''they don't know when we'll strike.''
''They know we're there, but they don't know when we'll come at them,'' Pagonis said.
The round-the-clock work to load up Fort Campbell's necessities for war and prepare individual soldiers for their overseas assignment is expected to continue for several more days.
Standing outside the warehouse where desert fatigues were distributed, Staff Sgt. Jeremy Garcia summed up the past week, no pun intended: ''Everybody's jumping out of their pants to get it all done.''
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Copyright © 2003, The Tennessean, A Gannett Co. Inc.
Associated Press content is Copyrighted by The Associated Press.
