U.S. Minesweeping Fleet Reportedly Will Go to Gulf

Pentagon officials have decided to order a fleet of minesweeping ships to the Persian Gulf and to create a special command to take charge of the escalating U.S. military presence there, sources said Wednesday.

At the same time, Pentagon officials are preparing to recommend that some U.S. military personnel serving in the region should qualify for “imminent danger” pay under certain conditions, according to sources.

The new developments signal that Pentagon officials expect to be involved in Persian Gulf operations for a long time.

Even before these moves, some members of Congress argued that the War Powers Resolution should be invoked, to permit Congress to decide whether U.S. warships should continue to escort Kuwaiti tankers. More than 100 members of Congress have asked a federal court to order President Reagan to invoke the resolution.

“There’s no change in our position that notification of Congress under the War Powers Resolution is unnecessary,” White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said in Santa Barbara, Calif., where the President is vacationing.

The White House view is that hostilities are not “imminent” in the gulf. If the White House found that hostilities were imminent, Reagan would be required to notify Congress under the resolution.

The Navy is preparing to send several oceangoing minesweepers to the gulf in addition to the four small coastal minesweeping ships and eight Sea Stallion helicopters that already have been assigned to help protect the former Kuwaiti oil tankers and their U.S. escorts, Pentagon sources said.

Fitzwater confirmed the move, saying that the addition to the minesweeping capability of the U.S. forces was consistent with the President’s commitment to maintain free navigation in the gulf.

The aging, wooden-hulled minesweepers are expected to take more than a month to reach the gulf from their home ports on the West and East coasts, sources said. They said the 172-foot ships, most of them more than 30 years old, probably would be towed across the ocean to reduce wear-and-tear.

The Tacoma News Tribune reported that up to five of the ships have received orders to leave from Bremerton, Wash., while the Norfolk Ledger-Star reported that three ships are scheduled to leave from Norfolk, Va. Pentagon sources said at least one minesweeper has been ordered to the gulf from Charleston, S.C.

If all are sent, they would represent almost half of the nation’s oceangoing minesweeping force of 21 ships.

In an effort to improve coordination of the growing U.S. military forces in the Persian Gulf region, top military leaders have agreed to establish a special command based n or near the Persian Gulf to oversee the operations, the sources also said.