4th Infantry Division Heads North

FROM MIAMI HERALD
Posted on Sun, Apr. 13, 2003



BY JOHN SULLIVAN
Knight Ridder Newspapers

CAMP UDARI, Northern Kuwait - The first elements of the 4th Infantry Division will begin to move north early Monday with orders to engage the last desperate forces of the Iraqi army.

Military planners are hoping the massive offensive show of hundreds of vehicles and thousands of troops coming in support of battle weary units of the 3rd Infantry Division will overwhelm the remaining enemy forces and bring a close to the fighting. The remaining 4th Infantry Division troops still arriving from Fort Hood, Texas, will follow close behind.

Throughout the night Saturday and early Sunday a constant stream of headlights cut the dark as hundreds of armored personnel carriers, engineering teams and supply trucks lumbered into to the staging area for the 24-hour trek north.

The convoy is under the protection of the heavily armed 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry, out of Fort Hood, which includes several infantry units, attack helicopters bolstered by artillery from Fort Sill, Okla., and rocket launchers from the 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery.

In the past few days, mechanics from those units scrambled to find parts for broken vehicles while technicians clamored in and out of other vehicles to adjust their computer-controlled weapons.

The 4th Infantry Division is the most advanced division in the U.S. Army, using sophisticated computers to track each other and the enemy on the battlefield. This will be the first time such equipment will be used in combat conditions on such a wide scale. The division also has the latest M1-A2 Abrams main battle tank.

"The old M1-A1 wouldn't stand a chance against this thing," said Lt. Lance Leonard, 25, from Silverdale, Wash. Leonard is the executive officer for Bravo Troop in the 10th Cavalry. He said the mechanics in his troop have been working 24 hours straight to prepare the vehicles.

"To get all this equipment to the right place at the right time and to have all the right stuff, down to bullets, is mind boggling," he said Sunday.

The unit's Bradley fighting vehicles are being loaded onto large trucks because tracked vehicles can't maintain high speeds for too long. Many soldiers here, including Leonard, anticipate only light resistance on the journey north, but expect to engage larger forces as they push past the 3rd Infantry Division.

4th Infantry Division Enters Iraq

FROM SAN JOSE MERCURY
Posted on Sun, Apr. 13, 2003

DAVID RISING
Associated Press

IN THE KUWAITI DESERT - Meeting no resistance, advance elements of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division entered southern Iraq late Sunday to reinforce the American war effort.

The advance units were scouting the way for a convoy expected to roll in early Monday and continue throughout the day, said Maj. Mike Silverman. He said no resistance had been met.

With the advance of American troops into Tikrit on Sunday and the last vestiges of Iraqi resistance crumbling, it was not clear whether the division would see any action or take more of a stabilization role.The division had initially been a key part of the American war plan, to invade Iraq from the north through Turkey as the 3rd Infantry Division invaded south from Kuwait.

But the plan had to be abandoned after the Turkish parliament voted against allowing the United States to use Turkey as a staging area. Instead, the division's 14,000 pieces of equipment and some 30,000 troops were sent to Kuwait but arrived too late to be part of the initial attack.

Using the cover of darkness, elements of the 1st Brigade made their way across sandy roads in Humvees and into Iraq. (NOTE: 1st Brigade has 1-22 Infantry, 1-8 Infantry, 1-66 Armor, 3-66 Armor, 4-42 Artillery, 299th Engineers plus support elements).

The 4th Infantry Division is considered the Army's most deployable heavy division, equipped with a sophisticated computer system linking all vehicles and boasting the latest tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and Apache attack helicopters.

4th Infantry begins overseas move

BY KEVIN J. DWYER
Herald Staff Writer

FORT HOOD — One by one Thursday morning, the colors of the Task Force Ironhorse were cased by their commanders as the units prepared to deploy overseas in the coming weeks.

“The Ironhorse has been summoned, and we will answer that calling,” said Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, 4th Infantry Division commander. “It is not a calling we answer for money, easy work or glory.

“But rather it’s a calling from deep within our hearts to protect you, our families and each other. It is the calling for the love of a country, defending our way of life for the next generation of Americans.”

Starting with the right of the formation with the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, and ending with the colors of the 4th ID, all of the unit colors in the task force were rolled and cased. When the units reach their destination in Southwest Asia, the colors will be unfurled.

Odierno, the commanding general of TF Ironhorse, said the massed colors on the 4th Infantry Division’s parade field represent the more than 30,000 soldiers of the task force. At the core of TF Ironhorse are the 12,500 4th ID soldiers from Fort Hood.

The coming deployment will be the 4th ID’s first combat deployment since the division served in Vietnam.

According to a III Corps official, about 500 soldiers deployed from the post Thursday as part of the advance party of the task force. The remainder of the division is expected to begin deploying from the post beginning this weekend.

“Each and every soldier has voluntarily raised his right hand and took and oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” Odierno said. “I admire them for their bravery and courage and I am humbled to serve in their ranks.”

Attending the ceremony were Gov. Rick Perry, and Gen. Larry Ellis, commanding general of U.S. Forces Command.

Each of the deploying units was represented on Cameron Field, and surrounding the parade field — standing shoulder-to-shoulder — were the rest of the division’s soldiers. And beside the TF Ironhorse soldiers were their families.

Many of these soldiers said that after the two-month delay the division has suffered through, they are not only ready, but eager to deploy.

“It’s scary, but it’s something I’ve got to do,” said Pfc. Anna Leritte of the 404th Division Aviation Support Battalion. “I joined to be a mechanic, but I’m a soldier first.”

Holding her company’s guidon before the ceremony, Leritte said one thing that will get her through the deployment is the trust she has in her noncommissioned officers.

“If it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t know what I was getting myself into, but I’m ready,” Leritte said.

Odierno reminded his soldiers that their “brothers and sisters” from the 3rd Infantry Division, 101st Airborne Division, 82nd Airborne Division, 1st United Kingdom Armored Division, 1st Marine Division and — as late as last night — the 173rd Airborne Brigade, were already engaged in combat.

“They are all selflessly risking their lives for our common defense, some have already made the ultimate sacrifice and we owe our freedom to them,” Odierno said. “Others are in captivity of a brutal and repressive regime. Please remember them and their families in your thoughts and prayers.”

After watching the news coverage of the fighting in Iraq for more than a week, Sgt. Robert Canine said the ceremony means that his unit will be in the fight soon. The reports from the front have also brought forth other feelings.

“Sometimes it angers you the way they fight and the way they treat the POWs,” said Canine, a Bradley fighting vehicle gunner with 1-22 Infantry. “I think everybody in our battalion is ready to get over there and help our brothers in the 3rd ID out.”

Odierno told his soldiers the conflict they are about to join is not about religion, oil or politics, but rather a war to ensure America’s freedom and to maintain its way of life for future generations.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a nonnegotiable contract with the people of America to fight and win our nation’s wars,” Odierno said. “We pray for peace and do not wish for war, but we train to fight in order to protect our families, each other, and our country. Our cause is right and resolve is unwavering.”

Watching from the wings with his 22-month-old son, Peter, on his shoulder was 1st Lt. John Boland. Beside him was his wife, Susanna, who will give birth to the couple’s second child in May.

“It’s very tough,” Boland said of leaving his family behind. “I always imagined I’d be here for the birth of all my children. At the same time, I’m very proud I get to do what I’ve trained to do for a long time.”

Susanna said that while she is a “little worried,” she is proud her husband is deploying to help the Iraqi people.

“We’re pretty well set up,” Susanna said of her preparations for the deployment. “I explain to people back home that the community here is very supportive, so there’s no need to worry.”

Very soon, Odierno said, TF Ironhorse will link up with its equipment and be ready for combat.

“The full combat power of the task force will come to bear quickly and decisively upon an enemy that has no idea of the combined arms hammer that is getting ready to strike him,” Odierno said.

“Almost 60 years ago our colors liberated Paris from the grips of a vile and tyrannical rule,” Odierno said. “Once again we have been called upon, and I assure you the magnificent soldiers of this powerful task force will continue the long, proud legacy of the Ironhorse Division.”

Dionne Searcey, embedded reporter with 1-22 Infantry wrote this report for today's Newsday.  I talked to her on Wednesday and she has quoted me in this story. - Bob Babcock

Preparing for Battle
Thousands from 4th Division deployed to Gulf

By Dionne Searcey
STAFF CORRESPONDENT

March 28, 2003

Fort Hood, Texas - Hundreds of soldiers marched across the grass, the pants' legs of their desert camouflage uniforms quietly swooshing until they came to a stop. An Army band played "Battle Hymn of the Republic," and small cannons fired several rounds, leaving puffy clouds to drift eastward.

"Our soldiers roar for freedom. We're fit for any test," the audience sang at a bon voyage ceremony for the 12,500 soldiers who are about to fly to the Kuwait desert. "The mighty 4th Division, America's best."

As the soldiers prepare to join the battle in Iraq, all eyes are on this heavily mechanized division with its computerized M1 Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles. The military has spent millions to outfit its machinery with the most high-tech battle-positioning gear available. Its soldiers can tell in an instant the location of every allied and enemy vehicle. This war will mark the first time the equipment, installed in 1995 to cut down on friendly-fire incidents, has been tested in combat.

"That's where the armed forces are going - we're going digitized," said Maj. Amy Hannah, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Army. "And the 4th Infantry Division is the most prolific of all of them with the high-tech gear it has."

Commanders know this is a chance for the division, which hasn't been to battle since Vietnam, to make a name for itself. They hope its logo of four ivy leaves will become as notorious as the screaming eagles of the 101st Airborne or the yellow blanket of the 1st Cavalry.

So far, the division is off to a sputtering start. It was supposed to lead the military operation, punching through the Turkish border with Iraq to open a northern front for the war. But the Turkish government balked, leaving the division's 14,000 pieces of equipment on ships in the Mediterranean and troops waiting in Texas.

"If this division had been available from day one of the war, it would have been a good test case," said Patrick Garrett, a senior fellow with GlobalSecurity.org, a military research organization. "Now there's still sort of a question mark as to what the 4th ID is going to be able to do."

Once there, soldiers will check for glitches in the equipment, which has been exposed to salty sea air for two months. It could take a week to prep the vehicles for war. Still, military experts say the division's role could be pivotal as its three maneuver brigades, a combat aviation brigade, artillery and support command might move into Baghdad or provide relief.

"Every soldier in this task force is highly trained, motivated and equipped to prepare for any situation," said Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the division commander.

This is a division that likes to call itself the Army's most lethal. It has sent troops to train in Kuwait and to guard suspected Taliban members in Cuba. But few have fought in combat. Left behind during the Gulf War, some soldiers started calling it the go-nowhere division.

Even its fierce battles in Vietnam received little attention. The division's infantry soldiers were often positioned near the hills of Cambodia while the media focused on Saigon, said Bob Babcock, the division's former official historian and author of "War Stories: Utah Beach to Pleiku."

During World War II, a political spat with France kept the division from earning the country's famed Croix de Guerre, or War Cross, for bravery in combat although its soldiers helped liberate that country. In World War I, the division entered the battlefield late but suffered 10,000 losses.

"The 4th Division has done a hell of a job between World War I, World War II and Vietnam. It has a damn good record," Babcock said. "But it's never gotten much publicity."

Officers like 1st Lt. Charles Peters, in charge of a Bravo Company platoon, want to change that. "It's our chance to show the world what we're made of," said Peters, 23, of St. Cloud, Minn. Still, he will stay focused on his mission. "I'm not worried about putting us on the map," he said, "but helping the war effort."
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

New news as of this afternoon, 3/26 -  The 4ID will conduct a casing of the colors ceremony at Ft Hood Texas on 27 Mar at 1000 hrs (FT Hood Local time - 1100 ET).  I have been told that MSNBC will air the ceremony live.  Units will be represented by all the BN CDRs and CSM.   Note - this is MSNBC, not CNBC - on our local Atlanta cable system it is on channel 120 while CNBC is on 36, look at a high channel if you're not sure where MSNBC is in your area.

                         4th ID troops to begin deploying this week
By Kevin J. Dwyer

Killeen Daily Herald

Preparations continued at Fort Hood on Tuesday as the post geared up to deploy Task Force Ironhorse to Iraq.

Fourth Infantry Division officials confirmed that the lead elements of the 12,500-soldier task force would be leaving the post by the end of the week.

"As people have seen in the media, the 4th Infantry Division decision has been made," said Lt. Gen. Tom Metz, commanding general of III Corps and Fort Hood. "They won't go through Turkey; they'll go in a different route in the area of responsibility."

The task force is made up of about 300 company-sized units and more than 33,000 soldiers drawn from several different posts throughout the United States.

The overall timetable of the troop movement, Metz said, is still not being announced to the public for security reasons. Metz added that the 1st Cavalry Division, which received its deployment orders March 5, continues to train and is also ready to deploy if needed.

Metz also said that in addition to the deployment of the 4th ID, several thousand other Fort Hood troops currently are deployed overseas.

"What a lot of people in our community don't understand is that we also have a significant majority of the 13th Corps Support Command that is either deployed or on deployment orders," Metz said. "Those smaller units don't get as big attention, but they are critical to the overall effort."

With the exodus of 4th ID troops this week — and perhaps the 1st Cav sometime in the future — dozens of buses have been chartered to ferry troops about post and to Robert Gray Army Airfield, said Fort Hood spokesman Cecil Green.

"We have to be able to move reserves from North Fort Hood to main post and we have to be able to move 4th ID," Green said.

Green was unable to say just how many buses the Army has chartered for the next few weeks.

Fifteen Greyhound buses were parked at Motel 6 on U.S. Highway 190 and seven buses at the Hallmark Inn on Stan Schlueter Loop Tuesday. According to one of the Greyhound bus drivers, the buses were here to "move the troops" for the next week.

Late Tuesday afternoon the buses entered the post and were staged at the manifest site at Abrams Field House.

The 4th ID announced it will conduct a flag casing ceremony Thursday at 10 a.m. During the ceremony, a special "Old Glory" American flag will be presented to Maj. Gen. Raymond Odierno, commanding general of the 4th ID, to mark the division's deployment to the U.S. Central Command area.

"Whenever a unit moves locations we case our colors and take them with us," said Maj. Josslyn Aberle, 4th ID deputy public affairs officer, about the ceremony. "It's a great morale booster for everyone and its an opportunity for our commanding general to talk to the soldiers and families."

"Old Glory" will remain cased and safeguarded by the 4th ID until it is passed to another military organization now serving as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

One dignitary scheduled to attend the event, Aberle said, is Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

Metz said that when TF Ironhorse arrives at its destination, the biggest task for the soldiers will be getting their gear ready to march north.

"The first challenge I think they'll face is their equipment," Metz said. "Some of their equipment has been at sea for almost two months. Those harsh conditions, even though the equipment hasn't been moved, will still take its toll on that equipment."

"That equipment has to be brought off those ships and prepared for combat. We know how to do that, but that will be a challenge because it is not often that equipment stays at sea that long."

Once the division heads north toward the combat zone, Metz said, they will have to be prepared to join the fight.

"They will roll in just as the 3rd Infantry Division is now and be required to fight a combined arms fight," Metz said. "Not only combined arms within the United States Army, but it's a combined arms across the Department of Defense."

Metz said his impressions of the past week's fighting in Iraq is very positive.

"As a student of this profession, I understand the complexity at which we are conducting this campaign," Metz said.

Metz said his thoughts are with Chief Warrant Officers Ronald Young Jr., and David Williams and their families following the Fort Hood soldiers' capture Monday in Iraq.

Young and Williams, assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division, were taken prisoner after their AH-64D Apache Longbow attack helicopter was forced down south of Baghdad.

The general did, however, have a word of caution to members of the media covering the story of the captured aviators.

"I'm very proud of the strength our families have shown," Metz said. "I'm very proud of the interest the media has shown in (the families), but we must be careful with the information we let flow, because that information can be used in a negative way by the Iraqi regime and possibly harm our soldiers."

Contact Kevin J. Dwyer at kjdwyer@kdhnews.com

4th Infantry Division still in limbo; military police battalion set to deploy 

By Kevin J. Dwyer Killeen Daily Herald

As conflicting reports about the deployment of the 4th Infantry Division swirled around Fort Hood Monday, post officials announced the 720th Military Police Battalion will be heading overseas later today.

The destination of the 720th MP Battalion — which has about 300 soldiers — is the U.S. Central Command area in Southwest and Central Asia.

Prior to departing the post, the unit will conduct a farewell ceremony with family and friends at the post's Gauntlet Field at 1 p.m.

Lt. Col. Dan Baggio, III Corps and Fort Hood public affairs officer, said that other units from the post could follow the 720th MPs during the remainder of the week. Baggio would not say if any of those units were from the 4th ID or other elements of Task Force Ironhorse.

The departure of TF Ironhorse has been in limbo for several weeks because of problems securing permission from the Turkish government to base troops in that country. One rumor making the rounds Monday, said the 4th ID would not be deploying for up to 30 days.

The 4th ID was quick to downplay the report.

"I have not heard anything of that nature," Lt. Col. Bill MacDonald, 4th ID public affairs officer. "To me there's nothing that has changed from yesterday. There's not been a meeting or anything like that."

On Jan. 20, more than 12,500 4th ID soldiers received their deployment orders. This was followed March 3 with the announcement that the 1st Cavalry Division's 17,000 soldiers had also been ordered to deploy.

Since the beginning of the year, more than 1,200 soldiers have deployed from Fort Hood.

Monday, Turkey's top political and military leaders called on the government to take urgent action to allow in U.S. troops.

The announcement came at the end of a meeting that included the leaders of Turkey's new government, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, and top generals.

The United States has repeatedly called on Turkey's government to quickly resubmit to parliament a resolution that would allow the deployment of some 62,000 U.S. soldiers for an invasion of the majority Kurdish northern Iraq if there is a war.

Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday that Washington has not given up on Turkey as a springboard for American forces in a war against Iraq even though the Turkish parliament so far has rejected the idea.

Powell said new Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will resubmit the proposal to parliament but the timing was uncertain.

"We're waiting to hear what the decision-makers tell us," MacDonald said. "As far as we know, we'll deploy. Nothing's changed since we got our deployment orders and we'll deploy to the CENTCOM area of operations at some point in the future when somebody tells us where we need to go."

Contact Kevin J. Dwyer at kjdwyer@kdhnews.com

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Fort Hood troops to ship out next week
Associated Press FORT HOOD — Ending weeks of frustrating indecision, about 12,500 soldiers in the Army's 4th Infantry Division stationed here are expected to begin shipping out to the Persian Gulf next week after the United States abandoned efforts to send them into northern Iraq through Turkey, U.S. defense and Army officials said Saturday.

The division, considered the Army's most lethal and deployable heavy division, is the first major element to move out from Fort Hood, the nation's largest military post. Two defense officials said Saturday that dozens of U.S. ships carrying weaponry for the division have been redirected from their holding position off Turkey's coast to the Persian Gulf.

Soldiers, many irritated that Turkey's indecision kept them from opening a northern front into Iraq, said the news was both relieving and sobering. "It's like, OK, at last," said Maj. Josslyn Aberle, a public affairs officer for the division. "The decision has been made, the speculating is over, the waiting is over, the wondering is over. Now it's time to do our jobs." Staff Sgt. John Garfield, 31, said he wasn't sure how to react to the news. "We've been sitting around for two plus months, not knowing," Garfield said after spending the morning getting outfitted with his desert camouflage uniform. "But I guess when it comes right down to it nobody wants to go. I'm in no hurry to go and get shot at."

About 40 ships carrying the division's weaponry and equipment were to begin moving through the Suez Canal on Sunday, one of the defense officials said. Both spoke on condition of anonymity. The 4th Infantry's soldiers are likely to go to Kuwait, the officials said. It also was possible that they could enter Iraq directly through the Gulf port of Umm Qasr, now under the control of British and U.S. Marines after clashes Friday with Iraqi forces.

The original plan had the entire division of about 17,500 soldiers from Fort Hood and other installations heading to Turkey, along with some Army troops based in Germany. It was not immediately clear if the full division would go to Kuwait.

Some 4th ID troops waiting to deploy are really roughing it 

by Kevin J. Dwyer Killeen Daily Herald

FORT HOOD — More than seven weeks after the orders came down for the 4th Infantry Division to deploy, its soldiers Tuesday still were waiting to leave Fort Hood.

Many of these soldiers, the ones who live on post in the barracks, have spent the past few weeks learning to appreciate the simpler life. A life devoid of televisions, computers, civilian clothes and everything else that makes a barracks room home.

A life that soldiers of decades past would easily recognize.

"We packed up our stuff two weeks ago and the movers came and took all our household goods," said Cpl. Joseph Torres, 22, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment.

"I have nothing in my room except for two sets of civilian clothes, and a pillow and a sheet to sleep with," Torres said. "Say you've got only two pairs of (civilian) clothes; you're having to wash them every other day."

Most, if not all, of the soldiers in the 4th ID expected to be overseas by now. However, because of ongoing diplomatic issues with the Turkish government, virtually every piece of equipment the division owns is waiting aboard ships in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

"It hasn't been too bad for me," said Pfc. Gregory Turner, 23, 1-22 Infantry. "I was able to keep my Xbox and my TV. Everybody just comes to my room and plays games."

Although the rest of his possessions were packed up two weeks ago, Turner said, when he leaves his team leader will let him store the electronic gear at his house.

"My drawers are empty except for some poly pros (thermal underwear), and the wall locker is empty except for some uniforms, and all of that is going into the duffel," Turner said. "It's not bad at all. Maybe it would be if I didn't have my TV and my Xbox..."

For Torres, though, storing his things was a little more complex.

Married last month, Torres decided to store his things with his wife, who is still living in Odessa.

"It's only four hours there and four hours back," Torres said.

Although the soldiers living in the barracks have said farewell to their stereos, televisions and game systems, most of them who own cars still have them. Lt. Col. Mark Woempner, 1-22 Infantry commander, said that all the paperwork to store the cars has been finished, and all the soldiers will have to do is bring them to the storage lot.

Torres said that once he leaves, his wife will come to Fort Hood, pick up the car, and drive it home. Turner though, had a different solution to the problem of what to do with his car: he sold it.

"It had a blown head gasket anyway," Turner said with a grin. "So I just got rid of it."

With many of the modern pleasures gone from their lives, the soldiers have been creative in finding new — and old — ways of passing the time.

"We're starting up a bowling team," Torres said, adding that the sport is a great way to bond with his teammates. "What do you do when you go bowling? We have a two-beer limit and we talk and bowl and it's fun."

Getting into the spirit of the game, Torres said, he and many of his friends have gone out and bought their own balls. "I haven't named it yet," he said.

While the bowling has been fun and a decent pastime, not having his things has been a problem, said Torres, who served with the 2nd Ranger Battalion in Afghanistan last year.

"So many people have stalled their lives with this deployment," Torres said. "My wife is starting to question if we're ever going."

Contact Kevin J. Dwyer at kjdwyer@kdhnews.com

4th ID still deploying, Fort Hood says 

By Lisa Soule

Killeen Daily Herald

A Fort Hood spokesman said nothing has changed despite a national news report that aired Wednesday speculating that the 4th Infantry Division's impending deployment may be canceled.

"That's not true," said Lt. Col. Bill MacDonald, the division's public affairs officer.

"We received our deployment orders on January 20th," MacDonald said. "Everything is the same now as it was then. There is no change from our perspective."

In a CNN report, reporter Jaime McIntyre quoted unnamed Pentagon sources who speculated about the Fort Hood division.

"Pentagon sources say the Army's 4th Infantry Division, which is still at Fort Hood Texas, may not be deployed — its role filled by the helicopter-borne troops of the 101st Airborne Division — now arriving in Kuwait," the report said.

Because the Turkish government has not given the OK to allow U.S. soldiers to use its bases, the 4th ID's equipment remains packed on ships in the Mediterranean Sea.

McIntyre's report speculated that all the trucks, tanks, helicopters and other equipment now floating on the ships may be turned around, instead of heading toward the Persian Gulf.

"And the ships carrying the 4th ID's equipment, may not be sent on the long trip through the Suez canal and around to the Persian Gulf, where they would have unloaded at the already overcrowded ports in Kuwait. Instead, they could just be brought home."

Sending the 4th ID's equipment back to Fort Hood — on the heels of alerting the post's other division, the 1st Cavalry Division — doesn't appear to make much sense, said retired Army Lt. Gen. Pete Taylor, a former III Corps and Fort Hood commander.

Fort Hood officials announced Monday that its 1st Cavalry Division had received orders to deploy its 17,000 soldier overseas. No date or destination was announced.

Taylor said he trusts that Fort Hood officials know what they're talking about when they say nothing has changed.

In a Wednesday Department of Defense briefing, Gen. Tommy Franks, commander of Central Command, fielded a question regarding the 4th ID.

Franks said he would protect the planning effort, citing his interest in security and secrecy.

"We're going to protect our forces. We're going to protect our plan," Franks said. "And when the timing is right to make decisions like the destination of the 4th Infantry Division, then we'll be prepared to do that."

Soldiers seem to have shrugged off the Wednesday morning CNN report.

"I'm ready to go," said Sgt. 1st Class Richard Tulsie of the 1st Battalion, 10th Cavalry, 4th ID. "Nobody has told me any different."

Staff Sgt. Wilber McDaniel of the 13th Corps Support Command, also on deployment order, said he had not heard the report, but he didn't give it much credence.

"I'm accustomed to it now," McDaniel said. "I don't watch the news anymore. It's a lot of talk. I want to hear the action."

McDaniel said his wife would likely welcome news of a canceled deployment.

"She won't be mad if I stay," he said, laughing. "But we act when they say act and we stop when they say stop. That's the type of job we're in."

Many soldiers already have taken care of the details pertaining to their deployment.

Staff Sgt. Anthony Hall of the 13th Corps Support Command, said he has moved out of the house he was renting and is now living with a friend while he waits to head out. He is taking the waiting in stride.

"It comes with the territory," Hall said.

Contact Lisa Soule at lsoule@kdhnews.com

Fort Hood could deploy soon

By Matt Kelley
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — The United States hopes to begin moving troops and equipment — including those from Fort Hood — into Turkey as early as this week, preparing for an expected second front in a possible war with Iraq, Pentagon officials said Saturday.

They confirmed a tentative agreement on U.S. aid to Turkey, whose parliament could vote on the deal Tuesday. A Turkish official said the deal involved $5 billion in grants and $10 billion in loan guarantees from the United States.

But several U.S. officials said significant issues were still under negotiation. One American official said talks centered on the complex terms of the loan.

Turkey, a NATO ally and Iraq's northern neighbor, is pivotal for the Pentagon's plans for a two-pronged invasion of Iraq if President Bush decides on war. Talks dragged on for weeks on the U.S. request to base tens of thousands of troops in Turkey, whose citizens overwhelmingly oppose military action in Iraq.

At least a half-dozen U.S. military ships are waiting off Turkey's coast, part of a flotilla of more than three dozen vessels carrying equipment and supplies for the American ground troops.

In Crawford, where the president was spending the weekend on his ranch, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said negotiations on final details of the deal with Turkey were continuing.

"And I anticipate they will continue for a little bit longer. I think it's fair to say that nothing is agreed to until everything is agreed to," Fleischer said.

U.S. war plans call for the Army's 4th Infantry Division, supported by elements of the 1st Infantry Division, to gather in Turkey for a possible thrust south toward Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit and the capital of Baghdad.

The 4th Infantry's 17,000 troops are on alert for deployment but remain at their posts — Fort Hood and Fort Carson, Colo. They would be flown to Turkey on passenger planes.

As the 4th ID awaits its deployment orders, more soldiers from the 13th Corps Support Command at Fort Hood are heading overseas today.

The post announced Saturday that about 150 soldiers from the 62nd Engineer Battalion's 68th Engineer Company are deploying today to southwest Asia. The 68th is a horizontal engineering company and provides construction and earth moving support.

The company will conduct manifest operations and a departure ceremony with family and friends at the COSCOM gym at 10:50 a.m. today.

Pentagon officials and military analysts say attacking Saddam's military from two directions would mean a quicker battle with less risk for U.S. and allied military forces. Tens of thousands of U.S. troops already are massing in Kuwait, along Iraq's southern border.

Some details of the U.S.-Turkish pact still had to be worked out, officials from both countries said Saturday. Turkish Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said Saturday that the Cabinet would take up the issue of basing U.S. troops in the country, but did not give a date.

"The relationship between Turkey and the United States is important. We're discussing everything in the framework of mutual trust and respect," Gul told reporters. "Both sides have concerns. These concerns must be addressed in the best way possible."

For weeks, negotiators have been discussing a U.S. offer for aid that would help the Turkish economy if there were a war in neighboring Iraq. Turkey fears that a conflict could devastate its tourism industry, which brings in some $10 billion a year.

Turkey had been asking for $10 billion in grants and $20 billion in loans. The United States had been offering $6 billion in grants. A Western diplomat said each billion in grants could guarantee $10 billion in loans.

The agreement for $10 billion in loans and $5 billion in grants described by the Turkish official, therefore, would still cost the United States $6 billion.

Turkey's economy took a multibillion-dollar hit during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. Turkish leaders worry that a war now, with Turkey's economy in another slump, would mean even harder times.

Another issue is Turkey's request to send troops into northern Iraq in case of a war, a step that Turks say will guarantee stability on their border. Turkey already has tens of thousands of troops in northern Iraq to act as a buffer between the semiautonomous Kurdish groups there and Turkey's own restive Kurdish minority.

The United States also wants to make sure that Turkey does not try to seize lucrative oil fields near Mosul and Kirkuk in northern Iraq or take reprisals against Iraqi Kurds. Bush and other U.S. leaders have repeatedly said they want to ensure Iraq remains whole and stable after any conflict.



Killeen Daily Herald Reporter Kevin Dwyer contributed to this report

Killeen Daily Herald

FORT HOOD — Less than three weeks after the order was issued to deploy the 4th Infantry Division, its motorpools were emptied and Task Force Ironhorse was ready to head overseas.

What took months in late 1990 during the buildup to the Persian Gulf War, deploying a division's worth of equipment was cut to about 15 days.

"Fort Hood has, and is establishing itself more so, as the Army's premiere power projection platform," said Brig. Gen. William Feyk, deputy commanding general of III Corps and Fort Hood. "Nobody can do it faster than Fort Hood can at this point in time and it's only getting better."

Most of Ironhorse's equipment left Fort Hood by way of the post's railhead. By most accounts this new facility, which is in the final phases of construction, has more than tripled the post's ability load and ship equipment by rail.

Throughout the deployment operations, 1,805 railcars left the Fort Hood headed for the Gulf Coast ports of Corpus Christi, Galveston and Beaumont. The remainder of the task force's gear was carried by 912 tractor trailers to those same ports.

Within 10 days of receiving the deployment order, said Lt. Col. Bob Pricone, the III Corps chief of operations, the first ship was steaming across the Gulf of Mexico.

All together, more than 9,000 vehicles and other pieces of equipment — including almost 600 M1 Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and M109A6 155 mm Paladin howitzers — were loaded and shipped.

"I don't think we could have done it as quickly without (the new railhead)," Pricone said. "The railhead has given us a tremendous capability to push out a division. We live by the motto, 'More is better and bigger is better.'"

Often, Pricone said, the post was moving equipment faster then the ports to the south could accept and load it onto ships.

"That's OK, we'd rather be waiting for the ships that have the ships waiting on us," Feyk said.

Both Feyk and Pricone praised the post's civilian employees who were the backbone of the deployment operation.

"The real bedrock of our ability to deploy is our civilian work force," Feyk said. "We've got some folks here that have been deploying troops since way before Desert Storm and they draw on that capability every day."

However, the movement went so quickly, Pricone said, it surprised even him.

"We knew that once we got the process started it would pick up and speed up everyday," Pricone said.

Pricone said that as recently as the fall of 2002, the III Corps staff was modifying its deployment plan. When the rewrite was finished, he said, the post had a plan in place to deploy both the 4th ID and the 1st Cavalry Division.

"It's important to have a plan up front," said Lt. Col. D.J. Johnson, the III Corps transportation officer. "We still had hiccups, but we worked through them."

Should the order come for III Corps to deploy the 1st Cav, Johnson said, Fort Hood is completely ready for the job.

"We'd do it in an equal amount of time or less," Johnson said. "We're a machine now."

"We're not new at this, we're not rookies at deployment," Feyk said. "Nobody knows more about deployment than the troops here at Fort Hood. Others do it, but we've done it for years and years."

Contact Kevin J. Dwyer at kjdwyer@kdhnews.com

Taking charge: Lt. Gen. Metz assumes command of Fort Hood

By Kevin J. Dwyer
Killeen Daily Herald

FORT HOOD — After Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz assumed command of III Corps and Fort Hood Friday, he delivered a strong message to all who would face his new command on the battlefield.

"Surrender or get destroyed," Metz said, listing any enemy's two choices.

Prior to assuming command of III Corps and Fort Hood, Metz was promoted to lieutenant general. Gen. Larry Ellis, commanding general of U.S. Army Forces Command, and Metz's wife, Pam, pinned the new three-star insignia to his collar.

"This is another great day for our Army as we promote one of its greatest leaders and pass him the colors of this corps," Ellis said. "Tom brings proven skills that are vital in our ongoing war on terrorism. He's one of the few leaders who can do it all."

Metz took over from Maj. Gen. Robert Wilson, who had served as the interim commanding general since Gen. B.B. Bell left the post in November. The ceremony was moved inside Abrams Field House due to the inclement weather.

"I know that Tom is prepared to lead this corps into a future that is complex and unknown," Ellis said. "The Army has once again made the right choice in selecting the Metz command team to lead III Corps."

Metz comes to Fort Hood from Fort Riley, Kan., where until Thursday he commanded the post and the 24th Infantry Division. Metz has spent eight of the past 11 years in III Corps, serving under its past five commanding generals.

"We are at war," Metz said. "This war is on our homeland and we absolutely must win this war. This experiment called democracy is only two and a quarter centuries old. If we don't win, it will set us back centuries. If it takes as long as the Cold War, so be it."

Metz was born in North Carolina, where he lived until enlisting in the Army in June 1966. After basic training at Fort Gordon, Ga., he entered the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School. He subsequently entered the U.S. Military Academy in July 1967 and following his graduation in June 1971, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry.

From March 1972 to January 1975, Metz served as a platoon leader, assistant operations officer, Scout platoon leader, and Combat Support Company executive officer with 1st Battalion, 509th Airborne Infantry in Germany and Italy.

Metz has commanded the 4th Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 194th Armored Brigade; the 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division; served as the 1st ID's chief of staff; and later served as the assistant division commander for support with the 4th Infantry Division.

In addition to his bachelor of science from the U.S. Military Academy, Metz earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering from North Carolina State University. He also holds a professional engineer's license from the Commonwealth of Virginia.

"Robert E. Lee said, 'Duty is the most sublime word in the English language,'" Metz said. "His wingman, Stonewall Jackson, said, 'The duty is mine, the consequence is God's.'"



Contact Kevin J. Dwyer at kjdwyer@kdhnews.com

Jan. 31, 2003
Tired troops work day and night to get their equipment on its way to Texas ports
BY KEVIN J. DWYER
Herald Staff Writer
FORT HOOD — Casting harsh shadows in the yellow glow from hundreds of overhead lights, Pfc. Jeremy Brown torqued down the chains that will secure an M1 Abrams tank on its trip to the port on the Gulf of Mexico.

Brown, and the other soldiers of the 3rd Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, worked through the day and night Wednesday and into the early morning hours of Thursday at the post's railhead.

"We rolled out here this morning (Wednesday) at 10:30 a.m.," Brown said as the clock ticked past 11 p.m. "I got a pretty good night's sleep last night, so I'm not doing too bad."

The line of flatbed railcars stretched into the darkness. The tanks at the far end of the yard were already secured and those in the middle were being chained down.

However, the work would not end until the line of tanks waiting on the concrete apron was driven onto the empty flatcars, chained down front and rear, and given a final check by inspectors from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line.

"The hardest part is getting them lined up on the marks," said Brown, an M1 driver.

With their tracks hanging over sides of the railcars, each tank is slowly driven down the long row of cars. Each time the 70-ton tanks stop and start during this delicate journey, their powerful engines actually move the train below them.

Brown, however, did not get the chance to show his driving skills atop the railcars.

"I was looking forward to doing it," he said. "You ain't got that much leeway to work with."

As the night marched on toward morning, some soldiers took any chance to catch a few minutes of sleep. Even 40-degree temperatures and a steel rail as a pillow did not deter soldiers from trying to steal 40 winks.

Watching as a team of his soldiers got to work on the four front and six rear chains, Capt. Tim Hayden, commander of the battalion's Bravo Company, mused on what reaction the train would get as it headed south.

"Some kid in some small town is going to see a train full of tanks go by his window," Hayden said. "That will be his first experience with the Army. That will stick with that little kid for a long time."

Getting each tank secured to the railcar, Hayden said, takes anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes. Soldiers, he said, will gang up on each tank to get it ready for the inspectors.

"It's one of those things that you have to go slow to go fast," Hayden said. "It does us no good to have one tank crew done in 15 minutes and another in 45. My goal is not to get me out of here; it's to get the unit out of here as a whole."

The biggest challenge, said Sgt. Derwin Daigle, is making sure their work is up to the standards of the railroad's inspectors.

"We get told to redo the chains two or three times," said Daigle, a tank mechanic, about some of the difficulties the soldiers face. "A lot of them want to go home right now, but this, we've got to get it done. Once we get the vehicles out of here we'll get our personal time."

After all the tanks were loaded and every chain inspected, the cars carrying the 44 tanks were linked with those carrying the rest of the "Lancer's" equipment. After a slow trip through the railhead's turning circle to get them pointed in the right direction, the tanks headed down to the Gulf of Mexico.

Once at the port, they will be unloaded and join thousands of other tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and helicopters waiting to be loaded on the massive ships that will carry them to Southwest Asia.

"The emotions haven't kicked in yet; I've been busy doing all this," Brown said. "I think if you're not scared in combat, you're not human. I don't think anybody, deep down, wants to see combat."

Equipment rolls to Fort Hood railhead By Kevin J. Dwyer
Killeen Daily Herald 1/30/03

FORT HOOD — The low rumbling growl of more than 50 diesel engines at idle rolled across the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry’s motor pool Wednesday morning as the “Regulars” began their journey to the post’s railhead. “This is probably the busiest I’ve been in a long time,” said battalion Command Sgt. Maj. Pete Martinez. “The schedules are changing and we knew we’d be coming out of the gate, but we didn’t know when. It’s been a little bit crazy.”

Moments later Martinez — with an ax handle gripped firmly in his hand — began directing the battalion’s Bradley Fighting Vehicles onto North Avenue toward the post’s staging area. At the staging area — better known as the Deployment Ready Reaction Field — each of the “Regulars’” 44 Bradleys and numerous other vehicles are driven across the scales and their weight is added to the running tally for “Ship 12.”

Once the soldiers drive their vehicles over the scales, the hard part of their long day begins: the waiting. There are two sides to the DRRF. Facing it from North Avenue, the left side is for vehicles that have already been inspected and are ready to move to the railhead. The right side, the side 1-22 Infantry’s vehicles started on Wednesday, is for those that haven’t.

“It’s the paperwork,” said Lt. Col. Mark Woempner, the battalion commander. “The paperwork is the hard part when it comes to transporting something on rail or a boat.” Everything from what is loaded and how the vehicles are packed has to be checked. Checking the “Regulars’” Bradleys, M-113 armored personnel carriers, trucks and shipping vans takes several hours.

Killing time playing spades inside Woempner’s Humvee, were Spcs. Gersain Garcia, Thomas Brown, Pedro Martinez and Kevin Lance. Spc. Martinez is Woempner’s driver and the other soldiers are the drivers for the battalion’s executive officer, operations officer and Command Sgt. Maj. Martinez. Brown and Lance were partners in the spades game when they hear Garcia and Spc. Martinez’s bid: 10 tricks for 200 points. “Okay, the last two are mine,” Garcia said with a smile after he and Spc. Martinez took 11 of the 13 tricks to win the game.

All four soldiers are married. Three are leaving children behind, and two are leaving pregnant wives as they head overseas. “It took me for a shock, but I still have to go,” said Garcia about the deployment. He and his wife, Sophia, just found out this month they are having a child, Garcia said. Despite this, Garcia said his wife will most likely stay in town while he’s gone. Lance, on the other hand, said his family hasn’t made that decision yet. “We haven’t had time yet to do any of that,” Lance said. “My wife might go home. We’re thinking about that.” No matter what happens, all four soldiers said they are ready, but they don’t know what to be ready for. “There’s no telling what will happen,” Brown said. “Right now we don’t know what to expect.”

Contact Kevin J. Dwyer at kjdwyer@kdhnews.com

After a long week, the journey begins By Kevin J. Dwyer
Killeen Daily Herald

FORT HOOD — At the end of a week filled with long days and hard work, the 44 Bradley fighting vehicles stood silently in a three columns facing the back gate of the motor pool.

Crouched over the hatch of the lead vehicle in the right-hand column, Spc. Jason Goodwin, 22, was tying up some loose ends before the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, began moving to the post's railhead next week.

In one of just a thousand details to finish up, Goodwin was taping cardboard over the vision blocks and headlights of Alpha 11, the Bradley he drives, to protect them in transit.

"It's pretty easy to replace, but why do that if you can avoid it?" Goodwin asked.

Since the 4th Infantry Division announced Monday its 12,500 soldiers were deploying, Goodwin, 1-22 Infantry, and the rest of the division have been hard at work preparing to leave Fort Hood.

"We're on a call-forward status," said Lt. Col. Mark Woempner, 1-22 Infantry's commanding officer, explaining that a "call-forward" status means his battalion is ready to begin moving to the railhead.

""They caught us at a pretty good time," Woempner said. "We've been going through inspections because we were supposed to get -A3s (the newest version of the Bradley), and go to Operation Desert Spring in March. Now they're all fixed up and we're ready to go to war. Good for us; bad for Iraqis."

Despite its name, Woempner's battalion is one of just two infantry battalions based at Fort Hood in the 4th ID. The division also has four armor battalions at the post, and three other battalions — two infantry and one armor — based at Fort Carson, Colo.

If diplomacy should fail, the "Regulars by God" of 1-22 Infantry will be among the first units advancing into harm's way.



Family matters



Unfolding his long frame, Goodwin — who is 6 feet, 10 inches tall — jumped down from the from his Bradley to inspect his work. The cardboard was securely taped in place and should survive the trip.

Two days after Christmas while he was back home in Illinois, Goodwin married his 19-year-old fiancée, Hanna. In the week since the deployment order came down, Goodwin said his new bride has not handled the news very well.

"That's to be expected, but she knows this is what I joined the Army for," he said. "There's a lot of new feelings for her I'm sure."

Another Bradley driver, Spc. Matthew Stoak, 25, was also recently married. He and his wife, Hope, 24, who is also a soldier, went to the justice of the peace Jan. 3.

"She doesn't want me to go, but I have to," Stoak said. "Her battalion is getting ready to leave, but she's three months pregnant and she can't deploy. She said she'd like to go if she was able."

Despite their wives' concerns, both Stoak and Goodwin said they are looking forward to the deployment. The anticipation has nothing to do with national security or international relations. They both understand that as soldiers it is their job.

"My dad was kind of worried. My mom told me to be strong and be safe," Stoak said. "Everybody wants to go, but they're going to miss people when they leave."

"You do what you got to do," Goodwin said. "I didn't come into the Army just for the college money. I came in to see different places. It sucks to do it under these terms but..."

Stuck on duty Friday as the duty runner, Pfc. Lindsay Saxton, 19, was eagerly waiting for his girlfriend, Sara, to arrive from North Carolina.

"She's in Dallas right now trying to get to Killeen," Saxton said after hanging up his cell phone. "She wants to see me before I leave."

Along with the excitement of Sara's impending arrival, Saxton was also looking forward to his new job in the battalion. Recently, he said, he had changed over from driving a Bradley to being one of the dismounted infantrymen who ride in the back and are the heart of the battalion.



Regulars by God



At 19 years old, Sexton is slightly younger than the average age of the more than 750 soldiers in 1-22 Infantry. According to Woempner, his battalion averages about 20 years and seven months of age.

"I was commissioned several years before the average age of the battalion," said the 42-year-old Woempner with a smile. "Most of these guys could be our children."

Originally commissioned as an engineer in 1980, Woempner came on active duty two years later. Easy going and quick with a joke, Woempner is one of the most senior lieutenant colonels in the division, a situation he attributes to his being a nerd.

That nerdiness, however, resulted in masters and doctorate degrees in mathematics for the career infantry officer.

In his office Friday afternoon, with a framed photo of his family looking on from his desk and a half-packed duffel bag leaning against the wall, Woempner is on the phone trying to get some of his soldiers back from temporary duty. Soon after hanging up the phone he is heading out the door for another planning meeting.

Confident in his battalion's abilities, Woempner said his soldiers are ready for whatever lies ahead.

"In the last 12 months, they've been one of the most deployed units in the Army," Woempner said. "We've been to (the National Training Center), to Cuba twice and now we're going to Iraq."

General reassures soldiers as families decide to stay, leave By Kevin J. Dwyer

Killeen Daily Herald

FORT HOOD- 23JAN03 — Soldiers bundled up against the wind as they cut across the deployment staging area Wednesday, as the 4th Infantry Division's deployment operations continued.

"Yesterday it was sunny and today it's freezing," observed Pfc. David Baker, an M1A2 Abrams driver from the 1st Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment. "It's a big waiting-in-line game. You're thinking about everything you need to take care of personally, but this has to come first."

Once the squadron finally loads its vehicles aboard railcars, Baker said, there will come time for the soldiers to see to their own gear and get their families ready for the deployment. In his case, Baker said, his wife will leave Central Texas to go home to her parents in Ohio.

"Back home she'll be around her family and there'll be somebody to look after her."

The decision stay or go is one the families of many of the 12,500 deploying soldiers will face in the coming weeks.

"I have no concerns at all that our families will be taken care of," said Maj. Gen. Ray Odierno, 4th ID commanding general and commander of Task Force Ironhorse. "I believe that each will make the best decision for their family."

However, Odierno did say he believes it is best if the soldiers' families remain in the Central Texas area.

Fort Hood announced Monday that 12,500 soldiers from the 4th ID and other units on post are deploying overseas as the core of TF Ironhorse. Along with the soldiers from Fort Hood, the 4th ID's 3rd Brigade from Fort Carson, Colo., is deploying as part of the 30,000-soldier task force which will include troops from eight other installations.

The final destination of Ironhorse was not announced.

During the coming weeks the 4th ID's soldiers will be loading several thousand trucks and Humvees, and more than 300 M1A2 Abrams tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles, and M109A6 Paladin 155 mm howitzers.

Odierno responded to questions about his decision to have the Ironhorse soldiers deploy wearing their green woodland camouflage uniforms. The basis of the decision, Odierno said, was the logistics of issuing desert camouflage uniforms to the more than 30,000 soldiers deploying from 10 different installations.

"We all go as the same," Odierno said. "I made the decision and we can do the job no matter what uniform we're wearing."

The decision to issue the desert uniforms to the soldiers could be made at a later date, he said.

Beginning next week, Odierno said, the soldiers of Ironhorse will start receiving their smallpox vaccinations as part of the predeployment preparations.

At the staging area on North Avenue, hundreds of tanks, Bradleys, trucks and Humvees continued streaming in throughout Wednesday for their final checks before moving to the post's railhead.

"It's a pretty mammoth task, but Fort Hood is the premiere installation in the United States to deploy from," said Lt. Col. Ted Martin, the 1-10 Cav commander.

Martin said new digital technology his squadron and the rest of the 4th ID will bring to the battlefield is something the world has never seen.

"They're primed and ready to go," Martin said of his troopers. "I hope (Saddam) sees the futility of not following the U.N. sanctions."


Contact Kevin J. Dwyer at kjdwyer@kdhnews.com

4th Infantry Division to deploy By Kevin J. Dwyer
Killeen Daily Herald

The 4th Infantry Division has received its marching orders Monday and is preparing for an imminent overseas deployment.

The division’s units at Fort Hood — two ground brigades and one aviation brigade — along with its 3rd Brigade at Fort Carson, Colo., and other units will be known as Task Force Ironhorse.

Activity was brisk Monday morning in the 4th ID’s motor pools on the east side of the post. From Hood Road to Hood Army Airfield, soldiers were hard at work preparing their M1A2 Abrams tanks, Bradley Fighting Vehicles and other equipment for the deployment.

TF Ironhorse will be made up of more than 30,000 soldiers from 10 Army posts including Fort Hood and Fort Carson.

No announcement has been made about the division’s final destination, or how long it will take to complete the movement overseas, which is expected to begin this week. Including the 3rd Brigade, TF Ironhorse will have about 16,000 4th ID and other attached soldiers, of those, more than 12,500 are stationed at Fort Hood.

More than 42,000 soldiers are stationed at Fort Hood, which is home to the 4th ID, 1st Cavalry Division, 13th Corps Support Command, and the III Corps headquarters. During the Persian Gulf War in 1990-91, 26,000 soldiers from the 1st Cav, COSCOM, and the now deactivated 2nd Armored Division deployed from the post.

Following more than five years of testing after it arrived at the post in December 1995, the 4th ID became the Army’s first fully digitized division. The combination of communication and computer systems that make up the backbone of the system give the division’s soldiers the situational awareness the Army has always striven for.

The 4th ID’s 3rd Brigade at Fort Carson has yet to undergo its digital facelift.

Beginning with the smallest possible unit, the individual tank or Bradley for example, each vehicle has a computer that constantly monitors its position and displays it, and the positions of other friendly units, on a screen. Information about enemy positions is also put into the system, displayed and reported up the chain of command over various communications links.

Also Monday, more than 300 soldiers from Fort Bliss near El Paso are next in line to follow advanced Patriot missiles overseas from the West Texas Army post.

The 108th and 35th Air Defense Brigades are scheduled to deploy in support of about 100 pieces of Patriot PAC-3 equipment that were loaded on rail cars Jan. 2 and routed to the Persian Gulf.

The defense department announced the 300 Fort Bliss soldiers will join about 1,100 Fort Bliss soldiers who are already part of the continued military buildup overseas to pressure Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to comply with United Nations resolutions.

A commander in the 108th AD Brigade said he is confident of the mission because of his soldiers and their new-generation missile defense system, the Patriot Advanced Capability 3, or PAC-3.

Washington Times
January 21, 2003
Pg. 1
Bush Deploys 'Iron Horse' Of Army To Gulf
By Rowan Scarborough, The Washington TimesThe Bush administration yesterday rolled out its most-advanced land combat division for a war against Iraq, ordering the Army's 4th Infantry Division to deploy to the Persian Gulf from Fort Hood, Texas.The deployment of the "Iron Horse" division marks the second of the Army's "heavy" divisions, along with the 3rd Infantry at Fort Stewart, Ga., to be tapped for a possible desert showdown.More Army deployments of tank-heavy units are expected to follow as President Bush weighs a decision whether to order an invasion, perhaps in late February, to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein."Task Force Iron Horse," comprising 16,000 soldiers from the 4th Infantry and 20,000 supporting troops from 10 bases, is deploying as a special unit to confront Iraq.By month's end, as many as 100,000 American troops may be positioned in the region! . A total force of more than 200,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines is expected to be in place, or on the way, by late February."Within weeks we can be over there," said Lt. Col. Dan Baggio, a 4th Infantry spokesman.Tanks and other armored vehicles will move by rail to ports in Beaumont and Corpus Christi, Texas. Soldiers will board cargo jets for the trip to Kuwait in one or two weeks and unite there with their heavy weapons.Britain, America's strongest ally in this face-off with Baghdad, announced yesterday that 26,000 troops had received orders to go to the region.Of the Army's 10 active divisions, the 4th is its laboratory for systems developed in the 1990s. As a result, it will take new tools to battle: the advanced M1-A2 battle tank, a digitized system of communicating from a brigade commander to individual tanks and to Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and a new spy drone, the Shadow 200 RQ-7A.The division also boasts Apache attack helicopters, which proved effective ! in the 1991 Gulf war by destroying Iraqi tanks from a safe range. The 4th is one of the few divisions to operate the more advanced AH-64D Longbow Apache. Improvements include "fire-and-forget" Hellfire anti-tank missiles and digital communications.The 4th is commanded by Maj. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, a West Point graduate and artillery officer with the 3rd Armored Division in the Gulf war. His division will join a burgeoning air, land and sea force assembling for what would be a lightning strike on Iraq from the south, east and north to seize Baghdad.Eventually, Army sources say, the 1st Cavalry Division, also at Fort Hood, plus the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky., and two heavy divisions in Germany also will deploy. Elements of the European-based units may head to bases in Turkey, from where they can activate a northern front against Iraq.Gen. Richard B. Myers, Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman, was in Turkey yesterday discussing basing rights. The United States ! desires as many as 80,000 troops in the country, but Ankara wants to keep the deployment to fewer than 20,000, Turkish press reports say.Turkey at first balked at letting the United States use Incirlik Air Base to strike Iraq in 1991, but then relented, permitting Air Force F-111 long-range fighters to launch missions.Mr. Bush earlier this month traveled to Fort Hood and gave a rousing pep talk to 4th Infantry and 1st Cavalry soldiers, who responded with enthusiastic "hoo-ahs" - the infantry's shout of approval.The president seemed close to tears as he concluded his speech. The president, who has been briefed several times on war plans, knew then that many in the audience would be leaving soon for a possible war."We are ready. We're prepared," Mr. Bush told the soldiers Jan. 3. "And should the United States be compelled to act, our troops will be acting in the finest traditions of America, should we be forced to act. Should Saddam Hussein seal his fate by refusing to disarm,! by ignoring the opinion of the world, you will be fighting not to conquer anybody, but to liberate people."A senior U.S. official told The Washington Times last week that the administration was looking at a time window of Feb. 21-28 to launch an attack.Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld is one of several senior officials arguing that a "smoking gun" need not be disclosed to the world to justify an invasion. He believes sufficient justification lies in Iraq's long pattern of thwarting inspectors and failing to disclose weapons to be destroyed, as ordered by a series of U.N. Security Council resolutions.Yesterday, Mr. Rumsfeld told a symposium of the Reserve Officers Association, "No one wants war, but, as the president has said, Iraq will be disarmed, and the decision between war and peace will be made not in Washington, D.C., and not in the United Nations in New York, but rather in Baghdad. It is their decision. Either they will cooperate or they won't, and it will not take months to determine whether or not they are cooperating. U.S. Central Command yesterday continued its low-grade air war against Iraq. Jets struck communication cables feeding into Iraq's network of air defense radars, batteries and command centers.Central Command, which runs U.S. military operations in the Gulf region, said aircraft targeted eight "cable repeater sites" around 7 a.m. EST. The targets sit between al-Kut, 95 miles south of Baghdad, and an-Nasiriyah, 170 miles southeast of Baghdad.