If U.S. response is a quick one,
Navy is in a position to deliver
By Scott Schonauer,
Rota bureau
NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain — If the military swiftly strikes back against those
responsible for the recent terrorist attacks, the Navy could deliver the first blow.
The reason: They are already within striking distance.
The Navy has 95 ships deployed around the world. And it has twice as many near the
Persian Gulf than usual.
Moments after hijacked planes brought down New York’s World Trade Center towers
and smashed into the Pentagon, the Navy moved a second aircraft carrier battle group into
the vicinity of the Arabian Sea.
The USS Carl Vinson, joined the USS Enterprise and will remain in the area
indefinitely. They offer the Pentagon a lot of choices and a powerful punch, military
experts said.
A typical carrier battle group is much like a floating military base.
It can have anywhere from eight to more than a dozen submarines, cruisers, destroyers
and support ships. Such an armada of firepower could quickly execute the first chapter of
the sustained campaign military leaders have suggested.
Long-range Tomahawk missiles launched from cruisers or submarines could begin the
operation, a prelude to a much larger attack.
Carrier-based F/A-18 Hornet and F-14 Tomcats loaded with AGM HARM air-to-surface
missiles and other various bombs and rockets might follow the barrage.
Each carrier has about 75 aircraft — including fighters, bombers and spy planes
— aboard, said Adm. Vern Clark, chief of Naval Operations.
If ground troops are called upon, Marines aboard amphibious assault ships and SEAL
(Sea, Air and Land) forces could lead the operations.
Most of the special operations personnel are already aboard submarines and surface
ships, but they could be supplemented with SEALs from Europe. Naval Special Warfare Unit
10, a SEAL unit, is based at Naval Station Rota and could deploy within hours to anywhere
in the Middle East.
P-3 surveillance planes, also based in Rota, could give generals and admirals real-time
images of the battlefield.
While the Navy will most likely be a part of any operation, they probably won’t do
it alone, military experts said.
Mackubin Thomas Owens, a Marine Corps veteran and professor of strategy and force
planning at the Naval War College, said how strike planners might use the Navy depends on
the target: If the target is Osama bin Laden, whom Secretary of State Colin Powell named
as a prime suspect, it could be any number of places in Afghanistan, where he is suspected
of hiding.
"We’ve hunted down pirates before — and that’s essentially what he
is; the question is what combination of forces," Owens said.
Although the mere presence of a carrier in the region might intimidate some countries,
it likely won’t scare the network of terrorists behind Tuesday’s attack, said
Andrew Koch, Washington bureau chief for Jane’s Defence Weekly.
"They have proven that they’re willing to give up their lives."
One of the things the Navy and Marine Corps bring to the table that the Army and Air
Force do not has has nothing to do with fighters or missiles, Owens said.
Since the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the Army and the Air Force have tried to become more
of an expeditionary force, something the Navy and Marine Corps have always been, Owens
said.
Sailors are used to being deployed on ships for six months at a time.
The Army and the Air Force are more accustomed to waiting at their home base for the
call.
"It’s a mindset more than a capability," he said, adding that it allows
more flexibility in planning.
Whatever the response may be, it will likely be more than the "pin prick"
bombings the United States has used in response to past terrorist attacks.
Owens compared the precision bombings to drive-by shootings. Fire, then leave.
It might be different this time.
"This is war," he said.
Back to September stories
Page Two news roundup
Stories from August, 2001
Stories from July, 2001
Stories from June, 2001
Stories from May, 2001
Stories from April, 2001
Stories from March, 2001
Stories from February,2001
Stories from January, 2001
Stories from December, 2000
Stories from November, 2000
Stories from October, 2000
Stories from August and September, 2000
Stories from June and July, 2000
Home |
