The entire 101st Airborne Division is deploying

[BEER980]

Is anything going on that we should know about Pojo?

The 101st Airborne Division is once again answering the call to serve in Iraq.

Around 20,000 soldiers got their final briefing Friday afternoon at Ft. Campbell. It's been two years since the division was last deployed to Iraq. Soldiers will board planes and be heading off Friday to do numerous duties, including helping train Iraqi law enforcement. Families took the afternoon to say goodbye. This is just the 5th time in the history of the 101st that the entire division has been deployed all at once. The soldiers will be gone a year.
Source

[kevin]

Maybe this is what is happening, they're rotating troops.

[Stephanie]

I think that she's already there. Is the 101st her division?

[streetsoldier]

Shannon is USAF (ANG)...the 101AB is Army.

[BEER980]

I thought Pojo might have additional info. Kevin it sounds like more than rotations to me.

This is just the 5th time in the history of the 101st that the entire division has been deployed all at once.

Are we that short on troop strength? We can no longer produce enough ammo for the troops and have to import it from IMI. We have British SAS driving around Basra dressed as arabs firing at Iraqi police. When they are caught the car is loaded with explosives and various other toys like anti-tank weapons. Then the British crash a few tanks into the jail where they are being held for a rescue operation. Something doesn't seem right here.

[kevin]

I thought Pojo might have additional info. Kevin it sounds like more than rotations to me.

This is just the 5th time in the history of the 101st that the entire division has been deployed all at once.

Are we that short on troop strength? We can no longer produce enough ammo for the troops and have to import it from IMI. We have British SAS driving around Basra dressed as arabs firing at Iraqi police. When they are caught the car is loaded with explosives and various other toys like anti-tank weapons. Then the British crash a few tanks into the jail where they are being held for a rescue operation. Something doesn't seem right here.

Why are you connecting an allgeded incident in Basra with the deployment of the 101st? I have noticed this multiple times, these connections that are made between unrelated things based on their spirit or personal feeling, intuition.

As for rotations these are used to relieve divisions serving in Iraq. Can't have troops in Iraq for the next three years, there has to be rotations so that one group relaxes while the other works. Otherwise morale crashes.

Of course I'm not sure that this is a troop rotation. The article says so, but no one could be sure of course. My main curiosity now is why you brought up the incident in Basra.

Is it your opinion something conspiratorial, dark and dangerous going on there? I don't get your implication. Are you suggesting that the 101st is going to attack Iran?

[Stephanie]

Shannon is USAF (ANG)...the 101AB is Army.

The 101AB stands for "Airborne"?

BEER - I think that even if Pojo did have any information, I doubt that she'd be able to tell us. I wouldn't ever want to put one of our members on the spot, never the less one of our service people.

[kevin]

Yes they are borne in the air and dropped on the ground where they fight.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ ... 101abn.htm

[Miss Mary]

My niece's ex-husband is with the 101st, stationed out of Ft. Campbell. Last I heard he was on assignment in Washington, D.C. Even though we're rarely in contact with him anymore, occasionally he'll send out a group email. If his cell # changes. If I hear something I'll let you know.

Kris was in Iraq for almost a year. It was such an intense time for my family (niece, her parents, my mom, her sister). We all worried so much for him. He became my nephew back then. And then they sadly divorced.

The second I read this topic, I thought of Kris. He is such an Army kind of oooohah kinda guy. If I were to even voice concern for his safety, he'd simply say - Aunt Mary, this is what I'm trained to do! It's in my blood! We heard he might make a career out of it (he re-enlisted somewhere after landing in Iraq and coming back home).

Mary

[JTD]

Actually, this may be significant.

On The Chris Matthews Show on Sunday and in an article in Time Magazine, Joe Klein said that senior army intelligence officers have concluded that the war will be very hard to win. One of the problems is that the Pentagon will run out of troops come this time next year. The reserves are drained, the regular armed forces is drained.

The situation re troop strength is very bad. To win the war, the draft will need to be re-instituted.

[kevin]

Actually, this may be significant.

On The Chris Matthews Show on Sunday and in an article in Time Magazine, Joe Klein said that senior army intelligence officers have concluded that the war will be very hard to win. One of the problems is that the Pentagon will run out of troops come this time next year. The reserves are drained, the regular armed forces is drained.

The situation re troop strength is very bad. To win the war, the draft will need to be re-instituted.

I don't believe that for one minute. Don't have a clue who Joe Klein is or what kind of credability he has. Truth of the matter is the United States has been and will be able to fight two wars at the same time. That is the mandate the military has and to my knowledge it has not changed.

The military has been (I am under the impression) relying on reserves in order to keep the regular units available in case of another conflict. I might be wrong on this point. Regardless one thing we will not see for a loong time is a draft because it is political death.

[pojo]

This is what I can tell you:

I'm part of the 34th Aerial Port Squadron, 440th Airlift Wing (General Mitchell IAP-ARS, WI) ... I am Air Force Reserve.

As for the 101st. They are rotating troops in and out of here around once a week. I noticed the Fort Campbell plane yesterday on classified SIPRnet. (we start tracking planes about 3 weeks in advance) The only thing I can tell you... they are inbound to my base and then well separate them to where they are all headed... some may stay here in Qatar, others may be sent elsewhere...Right all, that's all I know...

Don't always trust the media. The media will break the classified information which really pisses us off.

[Stephanie]

Which is why Shannon I didn't htink it was appropriate to even ask you for information to begin with.

[Miss Mary]

Which is why Shannon I didn't htink it was appropriate to even ask you for information to begin with.

I knew what you meant Stephanie. If I were in regular contact with my niece's ex-husband, he wouldn't be able to give us info either. When he was stationed in Iraq, he kept saying what she did - don't trust the media. It gets all distorted. I recall him giving us one link, for Army news, that could be given out to families. I've since lost the link. But if I can dig it up, I'll post it. It was unbiased Iraq news, that we were permitted to be informed of.

Mary

[BEER980]

Kevin I am not connecting the events, just mentioning several of them under the same topic dealing with the region. Perhaps you can instruct me how I can provide info without you connecting all the items. Would it be better if I post my ideas and information in a bullet list so they are not confused? I do sometimes get a feeling that things are not right and I do mention them together.

Is it your opinion something conspiratorial, dark and dangerous going on there? I don't get your implication. Are you suggesting that the 101st is going to attack Iran?

I am not suggesting the 101st is going to attack or some dark conspiracy is going on. There may be something going on here though. Bush is at his lowest approval rate. The war seems to be getting away from us at this point. The ammo to insurgent killed ratio I recently read about is very high.

[kevin]

Kevin I am not connecting the events, just mentioning several of them under the same topic dealing with the region. Perhaps you can instruct me how I can provide info without you connecting all the items. Would it be better if I post my ideas and information in a bullet list so they are not confused? I do sometimes get a feeling that things are not right and I do mention them together.

Is it your opinion something conspiratorial, dark and dangerous going on there? I don't get your implication. Are you suggesting that the 101st is going to attack Iran?

I am not suggesting the 101st is going to attack or some dark conspiracy is going on. There may be something going on here though. Bush is at his lowest approval rate. The war seems to be getting away from us at this point. The ammo to insurgent killed ratio I recently read about is very high.

Was just curious.

I do not think the war is getting away from our forces. The amount of potential force the insurgents have (with the tribal elements and vast caches of weaponry) is incredible. Yet they have been unable to fully expose it. There are some dangerous developments not least infiltration of insurgents into the security forces of Iraq.

However ff we mean that Iraq has a transparent democracy, I am quite assured this goal is beyond reach in the forseeable future. Due to the insurgency infiltrating their ranks if the security forces are going to win they'll have to adopt practices which are not very ''democractic''. Democracies are able to have transparancy because for the most part they are able to integrate everyone who cares (the attentive public) into the system.

Iraq will probably be unable to achieve this integration of the attentive public, because of devolutionary (tribal/regional) forces and the threat from muslim extremism. I think it will become a dictatorship or oligarchical system, friendly to the United States.

[streetsoldier]

"The ammo to insurgent killed ratio I recently read about is very high."

So it was in World War II, BEER...for every German, Italian or Japanese soldier killed in action by one bullet, 2,000 were fired. And the average GI didn't have an auto-select weapon.

I'd imagine the same (or worse) ratio could be applied to Korea and Vietnam, if anyone cared to check the stats.

Remember that no opponent is going to stand there in the open, daring us to kill them; this goes for enemy soldiers, terrorists, or our indigenous criminal population. And, I might add, OUR soldiers and policemen fall under the same category.

[kevin]

Yes I am with streetsoldier on this, in modern warfare when two sides engage one another there would be almost constant cover fire. We're not dealing with two armies on the field of battle facing one another and having the enemy in direct line of sight, this is mostly urban warfare.

If the insurgents are becoming better soldiers (finding cover quicker, retreating better etc.) that's to be expected. There is no rotation for these thugs, and if the war lasts longer than anticipated it would be no surprise to find that the insurgents will become better as a fighting force. They'll have to improve a lot to be able to seize positions from American forces, which is what they will have to do in order to actually seize the government. If their tactic is attrition and eventual overthrow of Iraqi forces after the Americans leave, they'll be in for a surprise because I believe the American military is trying to learn from that mistake and make the Iraqi forces stronger than what we left South Vietnam with.

Oh and we control the skies. Except from the loss of will to fight I doubt the Iraqi insurgents could ever ''win'' and seize power. If it happens it'd be due to the apathy of an American administration.

[abajan]

...The reserves are drained, the regular armed forces is drained...

I wonder if this is why I've been seeing so many recruiting ads for the reserves lately.

[BEER980]

I am not faulting the soldiers because they seem to be providing the constant cover fire, whatever it takes to stay alive. They are laying down 250,000 - 300,000 rounds per insurgent killed. The unsecured area must be swiming with shells at that rate after a firefight. There are many unanswered questions about the whole thing so I will leave it at that.