As President Bush gears up for a possible war in Iraq, we have been treated to repeated announcements of troop deployments and call-ups of reserve forces. A fourth aircraft carrier battle group centered around the USS Theodore Roosevelt is steaming toward the Persian Gulf and the Navy is reportedly prepared to send up to three more carrier battle groups to the region. Two Marine amphibious groups of seven ships each are also already in the Gulf. Military installations around the nation are taking on an empty, shuttered feeling as unit after unit packs up and ships out.
National Guard and reserve forces have been mobilized not only to go to the Persian Gulf, but also to guard military installations around the United States, leaving vacant spots around countless dinner tables and in countless work places. The 300th Chemical Company, headquartered in Morgantown, West Virginia, was ordered on January 3, 2003, to report to Fort Dix, New Jersey, in anticipation of deployment to some as yet undetermined final destination. These troops may be gone for a year, or even longer.
Other West Virginia Guard and Reserve units have already been called up, including members of the Bluefield-based 340th Military Police Company, the Romney-based 351st Ordnance Company, the Kenova-based 261st Ordnance Company and the Bridgeport-based 459th Engineer Company. West Virginia Army National Guard members have been recalled to active duty, as have members of the Charleston-based 130th Airlift Wing and the 167th Airlift Wing in Martinsburg. West Virginia is playing an active role in our nation's military operations, and the story is the same in states around the nation as, week after week, small town newspapers display the smiling portraits of Guardsmen and Reservists called into active service.
Even the Coast Guard is sending eight of its 49 patrol boats and two port security units – some 600 personnel – to the Persian Gulf. By mid-February, some 150,000 or more service personnel are expected to be in the Persian Gulf region, with the total expected to top 200,000 by early March.
These new deployments to the Persian Gulf come on top of many other ongoing military operations around the globe. Approximately 9,000 U.S. service personnel remain active in Afghanistan, battling Taliban forces and continuing to root out Osama bin Laden's followers. Military and political tensions in South Korea are as high as they have been at any time since the Korean War. Over 51,000 U.S. personnel live in South Korea, including 35,654 active duty military personnel. Some 6,900 U.S. forces remain in Bosnia as part of the NATO Operation Joint Forge.
By mid-February, by this short count, 201,554 American service personnel will be far from home, engaged in dangerous missions around the globe. This figure does not include forces permanently stationed in Europe, Japan and elsewhere, but those on temporary deployments. These deployed troops will be supported by many more military forces based in the United States. In musical terms, the operational tempo of the U.S. Armed forces has moved from adagio (slow) to allegro (fast), and is rapidly moving to prestissimo ("as fast as possible" or "too fast").
No one wants our military to go to war without the resources it needs. No one wants our military to go to war without the advantage of overwhelming force. But in this new era of terrorist attacks in the homeland, I have some concerns that we are leaving America unguarded as we attempt to initiate and sustain so many military operations overseas.
I am not alone in thinking that our country is vulnerable to another massive terrorist attack. On Friday, Attorney General Ashcroft and Homeland Security Secretary Ridge announced to the nation that credible, corroborated intelligence reports required an increase in the homeland security alert level.
In light of this danger, it is almost bizarre that our military continues to run at full tilt to ready for war in the Persian Gulf. It is as if two ships are passing in the night: one filled with our soldiers, headed for the sands of the Arabian Peninsula, the other carrying terrorists headed for our shores. If the risk to the American people was not so great, the situation would be almost comical.