4 Major Guard Units Alerted for Iraq Duty

[leftchick]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040301/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_national_guard_4

<snip>WASHINGTON - Four major Army National Guard units have been placed on alert for possible deployment to Iraq (news - web sites) late this year or in early 2005 as part of a larger force rotation, officials said Monday.

The units are the 42nd Infantry Division headquarters from the New York National Guard, the 256th Infantry Brigade from Louisiana, the 116th Cavalry Brigade from Idaho and Oregon, and the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment from Tennessee, according to several officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The alert notifications were expected to be publicly announced later Monday at the Pentagon (news - web sites).

The exact number of Guard members who would be mobilized is unclear; the number could change depending on the security situation in Iraq during the course of this year, but they likely would total several thousand or more.

[Superfly]

1. Key words:

"force rotation"

These units are being activated to replace units already in country.

[saigon68]

2. Ya Boys and girls--

Time to put your pencils aside and kill some ragheads</Sarcasm>

[UpInArms]

3. Pentagon alerts 18,000 more citizen-soldiers to prepare for duty in Iraq

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/061/wash/Pentagon_alerts_18_000_more_ci:.shtml

WASHINGTON (AP) About 18,000 National Guard soldiers from four major units have gone on alert for likely deployment to Iraq late this year or in early 2005, the Pentagon said Monday.

The announcement underscores the deepening involvement of Guard and Reserve forces in U.S.-led efforts to quell the insurgency in Iraq and stabilize the country. So far 45 Guard and Reserve members have been killed in action in Iraq and 42 more have died of nonhostile causes.

The Guard units alerted are the 42nd Infantry Division headquarters from the New York National Guard, the 256th Infantry Brigade from Louisiana, the 116th Cavalry Brigade from Idaho and Oregon, and the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment from Tennessee.

...more...

18,000 more to face the consequences of this illegal war :cry:

[DoYouEverWonder]

4. So much for turning over control of Iraq

at the end of June and letting the Iraqi people decide whether or not they want us to stay?

Looks like were planning to stay for the long haul?

[RamboLiberal]

5. I'm curious what ex-military DU'ers think about this story

from Sunday's Stars n' Stripes wherein armor units are being transformed in to infantry for Iraq duty.

Three weeks ago, the 1st Battalion, 77th Armor left Schweinfurt, Germany, for Kuwait as a dyed-in-the-wool tank unit.

Today, bulked-up with 200 extra troops and retrained as foot soldiers, most of the members of the renamed Task Force 1-77 slog through the sand as infantry.

Task Force 1-77 is just a small piece of the 1st Infantry Division team now staging in Kuwait before heading north to patrol a chunk of the dangerous Sunni Triangle north of Baghdad.

The transformation of 1-77 Armor into Task Force 1-77 is only an example of what’s happening throughout the division and, in fact, throughout the Army as the first wave of troops in Iraq gives way to the second this spring. It is a sign of changes to come, as the Army prepares to scrap its divisions and find a more flexible structure.

Most of the 1-77 Armor’s tanks remained in Germany, its men assigned to Humvees. An entire company has been swapped out to another infantry unit, and platoons have switched among companies. Even the headquarters company, accustomed to administrative and maintenance duties, will be hefting rifles and going on patrols. A New York National Guard unit will join the Task Force 1-77 once it reaches Iraq.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=20757

[pfitz59]

6. "Cluster fuck" is the right term....

Untrained mixed-bag units are recipe for disaster.

[AZCat]

7. Why don't we use "Charlie Foxtrot" as a 'cleaner' term? n/t

[RamboLiberal]

8. Being non-military I know what a Cluster F*ck is

But I'd have been scratching my head at Charlie Foxtrot. But I learned something new tonight.

[AZCat]

10. I'm non-military myself

But I used to work with a LOT of pilots who were ex-military, and there's nothing like the military for cranking out jargon.

"Tango Uniform" is another one, but it's a bit TOO impolite to explain here, so I will paraphrase- it means something is finished, or dead.

[Columbia]

9. Every soldier should be trained as a basic rifleman

Admin job or not, one should be competent in basic combat skills. In a war w/ no front, those skills will prove vital. The Army should have been training their troops like this all along.