101st Airborne Ordered to Gulf
The Army’s 101st Airborne Division, which played a key role in the ground phase of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, was ordered to deploy to the gulf region Thursday as the United States escalates its military buildup for a possible war against Iraq.
“A deployment order has been signed,” said John Minton, a spokesman at Ft. Campbell, Ky., headquarters for the division nicknamed the “Screaming Eagles.”
The elite air assault division earlier this week began moving helicopters and a liaison team to the Port of Jacksonville at Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida to prepare to load the aircraft onto ships, Minton said.
Minton said the 101st Airborne Division includes about 16,000 soldiers and 270 helicopters, including the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, the UH-60 Black Hawk and CH-47 Chinook transport helicopters, and the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior armed reconnaissance helicopter.
He did not say how many troops were called for in the deployment .
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