|
||||||||
  |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
U.S. military moving more troops, equipment to Persian Gulf
From Mike Mount
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. military is preparing to ship thousands of tons of equipment this week from undisclosed ports in Europe to destinations in the Persian Gulf, according to a spokeswoman for the organization charged with moving the material. The military has hired a commercial cargo ship to transport some 72,000 tons of gear, described as including rolling stock -- vehicles or any equipment with wheels -- containers and break-bulk, or equipment put on pallets. "I am not aware of the exact details of what is in the shipment, though we are expecting the shipment to leave Europe in the next two to four days," said Marge Holtz, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Military Sealift Command, a Department of Defense agency responsible for the ocean transport of U.S. military equipment. The vessel would leave from a port in Northern Europe with 56,000 tons of equipment, and then take on another 16,000 tons of gear at two additional stops before heading to the Persian Gulf, Holtz said. Earlier this month, military officials confirmed that the Navy had booked a cargo ship in the port of Savannah, Georgia, to carry military equipment from the Army's 3rd Infantry Division to the Persian Gulf for a planned rotation of troops. Those troops are part of an ongoing military exercise in Kuwait called Operation Desert Spring. Military officials could not say where in the Persian Gulf the shipment from Europe was headed, or if it was part of a rotation of equipment. "These shipments happen all the time within the military, and carry everything from ammunition to tanks to generators around the world for the needs of the military," Holtz said. Moving B-2s proposedThe United States has also asked Britain to consider a plan to base up to half a dozen B-2 Stealth bombers on the island of Diego Garcia. A U.S. defense official emphasized that no final agreement has been reached and that discussions are continuing. The U.S. Air Force has been considering plans for the last three years to base B-2s, currently located at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri, closer to potential hotspots. Locations long under consideration have been Diego Garcia, Guam, and Fairford, England. B-2s have never been based outside the United States If the British agree to accept the B-2s, the United States would need to build special shelters to house the aircraft. Those shelters provide temperature and humidity control while the B-2 is undergoing maintenance and also provide protection for the delicate skin covering the bomber. In the opening days of the Afghan war, the Air Force did land B-2s at Diego Garcia. The planes flew from Whiteman, then dropped bombs over Afghanistan and went on to the base at Guam for cleaning and new crews. On Monday, a senior Pentagon official told CNN that about 4,000 U.S. Marines would be sent to Kuwait to participate in training exercises near the border with Iraq.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
