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| Iraq |
| Troops Prepare to Drop Into Iraq |
| 2003-03-09 |
| A day after President Bush issued an ultimatum to Saddam Hussein to disarm, infantry paratroopers with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division prepared their armored Humvees for an airdrop inside Iraqs borders, a possible sign that the first strike is imminent. The 82nd will be on the first aircraft and the first out the door, said Division commander Maj. Gen. Chuck Swannack. "From standing start, with all our equipment ready to go ... 18 hours," Swannack said. "They are going to give me a few days warning. But we're going to posture. Its just like you've got a gun loaded with ammunition, and weve got the hammer cocked back. Were cocking back that hammer a little more every time, every day, to go ahead and rig our equipment for parachute assault. The division is ready for an airdrop inside Iraq. Entering behind enemy lines is what this division is all about." Interesting. A look at what's going to actually happen? Or is Gen. Swannack hollering "Hey! Look over here!" Betcha Sammy would really like to know... "In the first stage of any parachute assault, we jump out at 800 feet and you come down in about 15 seconds, 16 seconds in an air drop. And everybodys a rifleman, right away. But everything in the 82nd Airborne Division — from anti-tank weapons systems to engineering equipment, artillery pieces, all of that's air dropped." The big problem with airborne assaults is ground fire. And historically, they've been high-casualty affairs. Presumably, we're expecting to take out any ground fire... Swannack said the assault would be a coordinated effort with the Air Force to take out enemy air defenses, but that the division enters knowing there probably are some enemy folks down there with small arms weapons. "Thirty days ago this forward base in the Kuwait Desert didnt exist," said Army Sgt. Phil Estes, 21, a 325th Infantry Regiment paratrooper from Norfolk, Va. He arrived a month ago with his armored Humvee. Since then, the 82nd Airborne has assembled a sea of black and tan tents, a mess hall and sprawling parking lot of armored jeeps, trucks and other artillery. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #2 Bulldog, I wouldn't be surprised to see an airdrop to grab an airport or two. Actually, it's fairly standard US doctrine (see Grenada). But like you, I suspect disinformation in the Telegraph article |
| Posted by: Patrick Phillips 2003-03-09 12:01:06 |
| #1 Similar story in Telegraph about the British paras and Saddam International Airport. Surely disinformation? Market Garden-esque invitation to trouble, and the fact it's being touted - has to be a propaganda exercise? Course it could be a clever double-bluff... |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2003-03-09 10:56:46 |