[Peace-discuss] 3rd Inf Div goes to war

[Dlind49 at aol.com]

Infantry Division Headed to Persian Gulf
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

 
Filed at 7:52 a.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- An infantry division from Georgia has been ordered to the 
Persian Gulf region as a part of the military's preparations for war with 
Iraq, military officials said Tuesday.

The troops, from the 3rd Infantry Division (Mechanized), received 
prepare-to-deploy orders earlier this week, Army officials said. A defense 
official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed they were going 
to the Persian Gulf region as a part of the U.S. military's buildup of forces 
there.

It is the largest single ground force sent to the region since the Bush 
administration indicated its willingness to go to war against the regime of 
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein more than a year ago.

The division's 2nd Brigade -- several thousand soldiers based at Fort 
Stewart, Ga. -- is already in Kuwait on a regular troop rotation, officials 
said.

The division's 1st and 3rd Brigades, from Fort Stewart and Fort Benning, Ga., 
respectively, and its aviation brigade, from Hunter Army Airfield near 
Savannah, Ga., will begin moving to the region in the coming weeks. Officials 
declined to provide their precise destination. All told, between 15,000 and 
17,000 soldiers from the division will go to the region, officials said.

The division includes a mix of tanks, attack helicopters and highly mobile 
infantry.

Last week, defense officials said the Pentagon ordered thousands of 
personnel, scores of combat aircraft and two aircraft carrier battle groups 
to prepare to go to Persian Gulf region.

Separately Tuesday, Navy officials said the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft 
carrier will stay on deployment instead of returning to its homeport in 
Everett, Wash., next month as planned.

The nuclear-powered Lincoln and its battle group will remain deployed 
indefinitely in the Pacific Ocean and Arabian Gulf and ``will be available as 
required to meet national security requirements,'' said Cmdr. Karen Sellers, 
a public affairs officer for the Navy.

The Lincoln left Puget Sound in July for a sixth-month deployment and was in 
Perth, Australia, for the Christmas holiday.

Defense officials said last week the Abraham Lincoln battle group was a 
candidate to be one of the two carrier battle groups the Navy was initially 
to provide for the war effort. The other will be the USS George Washington 
battle group. That carrier is based in Norfolk, Va.