U.S. planning move to new
state-of-the-art depot in KuwaitBy Jon R. Anderson
Stars and Stripes
Jon R. Anderson / Stars and
Stripes
War gear like these Bradley fighting vehicles participating in Wednesday's exercises near
the Iraqi border are just a handful of the hundreds of vehicles and tons of supplies
stored at Camp Doha, north of Kuwait. |
CAMP DOHA,
Kuwait — Plans are under way to move this sprawling war depot that serves as
headquarters for the U.S. Army in Kuwait to a new $200 million state-of-the-art facility
now being built courtesy of the Kuwaiti government.
"After
the war, we occupied the port of Doha and the warehouses here," says Col. David Lamm,
commander of Army forces in Kuwait. "Now the Kuwaitis need it all back."
The port,
just north of Kuwait City, was turned over to commercial shipping years ago, but this
massive warehouse complex has remained a heavily fortified super stash of everything a
heavy brigade-sized task force would need to go to war.
Among the
gear:
100 M1A1
Abrams tanks.
30
Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
80
Armored Personnel Carriers.
12
Paladin 155mm Howitzers.
9
Multiple Launch Rocket Systems.
48
Armored Command Vehicles.
30
bulldozers and bridge layers.
150
trucks and Humvees.
And
that’s just the war wagons. The facility also houses enough food, parts and
ammunition to support the entire brigade — about 5,200 troops — for about a
month of full bore combat.
Every four
months, a battalion-size task force — some 1,200 troops — roll into Kuwait to
draw one-third of the gear for continuously running exercises near the Iraqi border.
Dubbed Desert Spring, the war games serve as a constant message to Saddam Hussein that if
he wants to try another grab for Kuwait,he’s got to come though a well-armed
contingent of ground soldiers first.
But all
that equipment needs to be maintained, with the rest immediately available for
rapid-reaction reinforcements from the United States.
That’s
where Camp Doha comes in.
"This
installation was never designed for what we’re using it for," Lamm says. Built
as a way-point for goods going in and out of Kuwait, the infrastructure has a tough time
keeping up with the thousands of troops who have been using it as a way-point for the
Iraqi border since war’s end.
"Water,
sewage, electricity all tend to be daily nightmares for us," Lamm says.
And while
troops jokingly call the pair of tall smokestacks near Doha the "Scud goal
posts," commanders have had to install makeshift measures around the facility to keep
troops protected from terrorist threats.
All that
will change when the Army shifts its operations to a new facility now being built south of
Kuwait City near the village of Arifjan and the headquarters of a Kuwait armored brigade.
"It
will be absolutely state of the art," says Lamm, "from force protection to life
support."
For
starters, he says, "troops will live in actual barracks instead of the beehives
we’ve carved out of the warehouses."
Instead of
hanging Kevlar netting across windows to protect against blasts, the new facility will use
shatterproof Mylar glass. Armored vehicles will get special maintenance bays for the
contracted mechanics who keep the equipment at one of the highest availability rates in
the Army.
Meanwhile,
the Army is running gear stored in some of its other stashes in the region through its
paces.
When the
1st Cavalry Division contingent rolled into Kuwait two months ago, it drew a company of
Bradley Fighting Vehicles from the Army’s prepositions warstocks in neighboring
Qatar.
"The
equipment here in Kuwait has a great reputation," said Lt. Col. J.B. Burton,
commander of 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment. "But I wasn’t sure about the
gear in Qatar. Frankly, I was a little worried because it was an unknown, no one had ever
used it before."
No worries
now, though.
"The
Bradleys have performed absolutely superbly," Burton says.
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