US Deploying Joint Air, Ground Force in Gulf

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, January 21, 2003

US Deploying Joint Air, Ground Force in Gulf

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In a major new military buildup in the Gulf region, the Pentagon is sending a joint air and groundforce of more than 37,000 troops from more than 10 military installations around the United States, officials said Monday.

About 12,500 soldiers from elements of the mechanized 4th Infantry Division were preparing Monday to leave Fort Hood, Texas,after receiving deployment orders to deploy to the Central Commandarea of responsibility, which include the Gulf region, according to a spokesman at the fort.

Nearly 4,000 from the division's 3rd Brigade at Fort Carson, Colorado, have also received deployment orders.

This is the largest call-up of troops from a single military installation since Christmas Eve, when Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld signed the first of three deployment orders to more than double the 60,000 troops already in the gulf region for a possiblemilitary strike against Iraq.

The division will spearhead what the Army calls Task Force IronHorse, which will have a total force of about 37,000 soldiers from11 Army installations, spokesman Cecil Green said.

While the task force's role is not yet public, Army officials said its mission is part of the plan of President George W. Bush to reposition troops to combat terrorism, according to local mediareports.

The 4th Infantry Division is considered the Army's most lethal,modern, and deployable heavy division, with the most sophisticatedinformation-gathering and command and control equipment.

Its weaponry includes the latest M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and 155 mm howitzers. An airborne element consists of anti-armor AH-64 Apache attack helicopters and UH-60 Black Hawk transports.

One of the first ground units to get deployment orders was the 3rd Infantry's two brigades in Georgia, which began shipping out in early January.

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