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300 troops with kin in Katrina zone sent home
Three hundred Air Force members in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere abroad will return to their Mississippi Air Force base "so they can attend to their families' needs after Hurricane Katrina," according to an Air Force command statement.
The personnel -- active duty and reserves -- had been assigned to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, an area hard-hit by the hurricane.
The troops were assigned to bases throughout the Central Command area of responsibility and were supporting operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Nearly 100 airmen who were scheduled to deploy from Keesler AFB will not deploy now. Their jobs supporting the war on terrorism will be filled by others throughout the Air Force not affected by the hurricane," the statement said.
"Many of these 300 airmen have served for nearly four months and are going home as part of the Air Force's normal air expeditionary force rotation. Others have just arrived and are going home."
While this applies only to 300 troops assigned to Keesler, "Airmen assigned to other home stations who may have had families displaced by the hurricane or affected in other ways may be granted emergency leave depending on their individual situation," the military said.
Read More
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/03/katrina.airmen/index.html
The troops were assigned to bases throughout the Central Command area of responsibility and were supporting operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Nearly 100 airmen who were scheduled to deploy from Keesler AFB will not deploy now. Their jobs supporting the war on terrorism will be filled by others throughout the Air Force not affected by the hurricane," the statement said.
"Many of these 300 airmen have served for nearly four months and are going home as part of the Air Force's normal air expeditionary force rotation. Others have just arrived and are going home."
While this applies only to 300 troops assigned to Keesler, "Airmen assigned to other home stations who may have had families displaced by the hurricane or affected in other ways may be granted emergency leave depending on their individual situation," the military said.
Read More
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/09/03/katrina.airmen/index.html
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"This effort will clearly increase the overall burden on our military," Skelton said Friday. "The Defense Department's civilian leaders must look at the impact of this and future crises and the ongoing war on the military's future readiness and overall state."
Inge said the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, which already has several infantry battalions in Afghanistan and Iraq or preparing to go there, began dispatching about 2,500 soldiers, including infantry, and support troops, to Louisiana on Saturday. They included most of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
A spokeswoman for the 82nd Airborne, Maj. Amy Hannah, said later that at least 5,000 would be sent from her division. Another spokesman there, Spc. John French, said 5,000 would be sent over the next few days.
The 1st Cavalry Division, from Fort Hood, Texas, is sending about 2,700 soldiers to the Gulf Coast, and the Marines are sending about 2,000 from bases in California and North Carolina. The 4th Infantry Division, which is getting ready to begin a new deployment to Iraq, already has sent some helicopters to Louisiana.
The Air Force is flying missions to the Gulf daily, and the Navy has numerous ships off the Gulf Coast.
Blum said the National Guard was going to send 10,000 more troops than previously planned, bringing the total number of Guardsman involved in the relief effort to 40,000 within the next several days. He said there would be 33,000 in Louisiana and Mississippi by the end of Saturday.
In addition to deployments in Kosovo and Afghanistan, the National Guard is heavily committed to the conflict in Iraq. The Army National Guard has 39,800 soldiers in Iraq and the Air National Guard has about 900. That represents about 30 percent of all U.S. forces in Iraq. Thousands also are operating in Kuwait.
Blum said the only Guard unit he knows of that has been pulled off the list to rotate into Iraq is a small unit whose members live in Gulfport, Miss., which was heavily battered by Hurricane Katrina.
"Many of them, we can't find them," Blum said.
A Guard infantry unit that was training at Camp Shelby, Miss., when Katrina struck has been kept off disaster relief duty so that it can deploy to Iraq as scheduled, Blum said.