Cavalry, Pilots Join U.S. Forces Aircraft Carrier, Armored Units Move To Persian Gulf

The U.S. show of force in the Persian Gulf gathered momentum Saturday as tank crews in Texas packed their bags and pilots on a second aircraft carrier quietly reviewed mission profiles in the eastern Mediterranean.

At Fort Hood, Texas, the Army’s huge armor training base, soldiers of the 3rd Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division began packing bags for deployment to Kuwait. The airlift is expected to begin this afternoon after receipt of a deployment order transmitted from the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It will bring to Iraq’s southeastern neighbor about 5,000 tank and armored personnel carrier crew, headquarters officers, support staff, artillery and air defense specialists and military police.

In a telephone interview from the carrier USS Enterprise, Capt. James Zortman, commander of Carrier Air Wing 17, said the pilots of the ship’s 50 attack aircraft are preparing to join no-fly zone patrols currently being flown by Air Force planes and planes from the USS Carl Vinson from its station in the Gulf.

“The best way we would describe it would be quiet, determined professional preparation,” Zortman said of his pilots. “They’re looking at what the situation is there and the types of things that are going on and the intelligence.”

A carrier in confined waters such as the Persian Gulf has to worry about missile attack, and the Enterprise will be devoting substantial resources to protective missions, including its air defense planes, two escort ships and a submarine.

There also is the specter of a pilot possibly being shot down, captured and paraded before television cameras in Baghdad.

“That’s something we train for on a regular basis,” Zortman said. The best defense, besides not getting shot down, is an elaborate search-and-rescue capability, he said.

Though the most likely immediate mission of his pilots will be patrolling the no-fly zone, Zortman, 45, from Onawa, Iowa, said the Enterprise is equipped to attack ground targets. The ship carries 14 F-14D fighters modified to release laser-guided bombs, a departure from their past air-to-air combat mission. In addition the ship has 22 FA-18 Hornets, for both air superiority and attack missions, and 14 A-6 ground attack planes.

Other aircraft on board include E-2 Hawkeyes, which have AWACS radar pods, EA-6B radar jammers that can shoot Harm missiles at Iraqi air defense radar stations, and S-3B submarine hunters.

The Army contingent from Fort Hood will join 1,200 soldiers - also from Fort Hood - already there for an expanded military exercise with Kuwaiti soldiers.