U.S. forces in the region

As the United States military continues preparations for a possible attack on Iraq, it is building on a substantial presence in the region.

By Times staff writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published September 29, 2002

At sea

PERSONNEL: About 25,000, mostly Navy.

EQUIPMENT: Aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln and its battle group of about nine ships and 70 aircraft. There also is one amphibious battle group with about 1,700 sailors, 1,500 Marines and 700 Marine aviators. The carrier George Washington and its battle group are in the Mediterranean. The carrier Harry Truman is due in the area in November.

Kuwait

PERSONNEL: About 10,000, mostly Army and Air Force. Up to 2,200 Marines of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are due to arrive for training exercises.

EQUIPMENT: Prepositioned equipment for two armored brigades plus one rotating in, each with about 115 M-1A1 Abrams tanks, 60 M-2A2 Bradley fighting vehicles, 100 armored personnel carriers and 20 155-mm. howitzers. Two Patriot antimissile batteries. About 80 aircraft.

Saudi Arabia

PERSONNEL: About 6,600, mostly Air Force.

EQUIPMENT: Two Patriot antimissile batteries. About 72 aircraft. An air operations center is at Prince Sultan Air Base, where the air campaign over Afghanistan and the southern no-flight zone in Iraq have been managed.

Bahrain

PERSONNEL: About 4,200. The Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Manama.

Qatar

PERSONNEL: About 3,300, mostly Army. Six hundred military planners are being sent from Central Command headquarters in Tampa.

EQUIPMENT: Prepositioned equipment for one heavy armored brigade. A dozen or so planes at Al-Udeid, where some equipment for an air operations center has been transferred. Al-Udeid contains the gulf's longest runway and its shelters can accommodate nearly a hundred aircraft.

Oman

PERSONNEL: About 2,400, mostly Air Force.

EQUIPMENT: About 24 aircraft, including perhaps 10 B1-Bs moved to Thumrait Air Base from Diego Garcia. Prepositioned Air Force equipment for three bases.

United Arab Emirates

PERSONNEL: About 500, mostly Air Force.

Turkey

PERSONNEL: About 1,700, mostly Air Force. Base for the patrols of the northern no-flight zone over Iraq.

EQUIPMENT: About 60 aircraft.

Diego Garcia

PERSONNEL: About 1,900, mostly Air Force.

EQUIPMENT: Equipment for an Army brigade and a Marine brigade. About eight B-52 bombers and 12 refueling planes; the United States has asked permission to base perhaps half a dozen B-2 stealth bombers here.

Djibouti

PERSONNEL: 800, about half of which are Special Operations forces, recently arrived for missions against al-Qaida fighters in the region.

-- Sources: New York Times, military officials, GlobalSecurity.org, Scripps Howard News Service.

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