U.S. sends National Guard units to Gulf for first time
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, January 29, 2001
WASHINGTON — The United States is sending National Guard units
to protect Arab allies in the Gulf.
Officials said this is the first time National Guard units will be
deployed in
the region. Over the last decade, individual National Guard members
have been sent to bolster U.S. Army troops.
The first National Guard unit to have been deployed was that from
Alabama 1st Battalion, 203rd Air Defense Artillery. The Patriot
anti-aircraft battery with the unit was deployed earlier this month with
soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Air Defense Artillery, 35th ADA Brigade
from Fort Bliss, Texas.
The unit consists of 80 soldiers. They are joining a rotation of nine
air defense battalions in the Gulf, a development which began a decade ago
amid the 1991 war against Iraq.
Officials said the task force normally is divided between both Saudi
Arabia and Kuwait.
Monday, January 29, 2001
|