- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The
U.S. military, preparing for possible war with Iraq, said on Wednesday
it had activated nearly 39,000 more part-time Reserve troops, bringing
the total number of reservists on active duty to more than 150,000.
-
- In the last month, more than 90,000 part-time Reserve
and National Guard troops have been called to duty as part of a build-up
that has sent tens of thousands of American troops, warships and attack
jets to the Gulf region.
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- The Defense Department said 38,649 additional reservists
had been called up in the past week, bringing the total Reserve and National
Guard troops on duty to 150,252. Many are heading to the Gulf region.
-
- It is by far the biggest activation of reserves since
265,000 were called up for the 1991 Gulf War. Defense officials, who asked
not to be identified, said American troops in the Gulf region now numbered
more than 120,000, with tens of thousands more set to arrive by the end
of the month.
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- The Pentagon began calling up Reserve forces after the
September 2001 attacks on America to help provide protection at home, but
has rapidly escalated the activations in recent weeks to support regular
units.
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- "Some of these National Guard and Reserve forces
will deploy to the Middle East. Others will serve here in the homeland,"
said Army Lt. Col. Dan Stoneking, a Pentagon spokesman.
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- MOVING IN COMMERCIAL AIRLINERS
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- In addition to forces already massed in Kuwait and elsewhere
near Iraq, thousands of U.S. Army troops began flying to the Gulf region
on Tuesday on commercial airliners mobilized by the Pentagon to meet growing
airlift needs for a possible war.
-
- Some 15 commercial airliners carried at least 3,750 troops
on the first day military personnel were ferried to the region by commercial
aircraft brought into service as part of the so-called Civil Reserve Air
Fleet, officials said.
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- The civilian airlift will include members of the elite
101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, who received deployment
orders last week.
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- U.S. officials said nearly 200,000 American troops could
be in place by early March in addition to some 42,000 that have been committed
by Britain.
-
- The United States last week ordered a fifth aircraft
carrier, the USS Kitty Hawk, to sail from the western Pacific for the Gulf.
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- The Kitty Hawk will join four other U.S. carriers and
a British aircraft carrier, bringing to nearly 500 the number of U.S. naval
and Air Force aircraft near Iraq.
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- The carriers are also accompanied by dozens of other
warships carrying long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles.
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