Tuesday, February 20, 2001

By Jon R. Anderson
Stars and Stripes

While Air Force and Navy strike aircraft took care of business around Baghdad on Friday, it was business as usual for Army troops conducting exercises throughout the region.

A contingent of Germany-based Patriot missile crews stood by in Israel as the United States launched strikes Friday evening against Iraq, but officials still insist the troops were only in the area for exercises.

Still, said Army spokesman Maj. Martin Downie, it would take little for troops in Israel to shift from exercise-mode to real-world operations, should Israel find itself once again on the receiving end of Iraqi Scud missiles.

"Our forces were placed here for exercise purposes," Downie said. "However, we have the ability to respond in a timely manner, should we be called upon. The bottom line is that it would be an adjustment, but we would be able to make that adjustment pretty quickly."

Some 300 Army soldiers — part of Germany-based 69th Air Defense Artillery Brigade — are taking part in the U.S.-Israeli air defense exercises, dubbed Juniper Cobra.

Meanwhile, some 2,000 soldiers from the Fort Hood, Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division were deployed along Kuwait’s border with Iraq during the strikes as part of a series of ongoing exercises there.

The maneuvers, until recently called Intrinsic Action, have now been dubbed Desert Spring, said Army spokesman Maj. Robert Gowan in Kuwait. The name change comes as the U.S. Army and Kuwaiti military are preparing a special live-fire exercise on Feb. 25 commemorating the liberation of Kuwait 10 years ago.

Since 1993, the Army has continuously rotated a battalion of troops into Kuwait manning Abrams tanks, armored fighting vehicles, artillery and other heavy war gear.

The last time Patriot crews deployed to Israel was in November 1998. The reason given then was for exercises. Shortly after arriving, however, the United States launched Operation Desert Fox, three days of strikes against Iraq as tensions came to a head over United Nations weapons inspections.

In fact, Patriots have deployed to Israel only in times of crisis.

The supersonic Patriot missile was first used to intercept Iraqi Scud missiles as Saddam Hussein tried to lure Israel into the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Downie insisted there was no connection between these latest strikes and the Army’s latest Patriot deployment to Israel, however.

"This exercise isn’t related in any way to what is going on, either in here in Israel or in Iraq," he said.

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