American Forces Gearing for Battle

McGUIRE AIR FORCE BASE, N.J. Military personnel are on standby at Willow Grove Naval Air station in Horsham, Montgomery County too in case they need to be deployed.

Gung ho and ready to fight, American forces packed up for a war on terrorism that marched into high gear at bases all over the country. Troops dressed in desert fatigues waved and gave thumbs-up signs to reporters Thursday as they boarded planes at McGuire Air Force Base. They weren't going to find out their destination until they were airborne, but that didn't faze them.

"They're standing tall and ready to rock," said Col. Kip Self, a commander with the U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command at McGuire. "Morale is sky-high."

Air Force bases in at least seven states have been called up for "Operation Infinite Justice," the deployment set in motion after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the East Coast. The Air Force has been ordered to dispatch more than 100 fighter jets, B-1 and B-52 bombers and tankers to the Persian Gulf. The Pentagon also said 5,131 members of the Air Force National Guard and Air Force Reserve have been ordered to active duty. At Camp LeJeune, N.C., more than 2,000 Marines shipped out for a long-planned tour of the Mediterranean that could turn into a mission against terrorists.

"If Marines are called upon in the Mediterranean, we would be the first to go," said Col. Andrew Frick, commander of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit. "We are the point on the spear."

The Marines said goodbye to loved ones, then loaded bulging duffel bags, helmets and rifles onto buses and helicopters for a trip to the docks. Among them was Staff Sgt. Reuben Long of Danville, Iowa, who said goodbye to his 16-month-old daughter, Madison, outside a barracks.

"I love you," he whispered repeatedly, kissing the baby's face as his wife, Heather, watched. Then he grabbed his M-16 rifle and pack and jumped aboard a bus.

Air refueling tankers took off from Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane, Wash., and deployment orders went to North Dakota's two air bases, Minot and Grand Forks. Fighter jets and 100 members of the Air National Guard were called up at Buckley Air Force Base outside Denver.

At Fort Campbell, Ky., 10 days of air-assault training wrapped up Friday for close to 100 soldiers of the Army's 101st Airborne, which can be dispatched anywhere in the world in about 36 hours.

Toting a 45-pound rucksack, Maj. Xavier Brunson, 34, kept President Bush in mind as he finished a morning hike. "It was good to see the commander in chief stand up and give answers to let us all know where we're going" as a nation, he said.

At Fort Bragg, N.C., thousands of Army soldiers were back on a training schedule that was interrupted by last week's terrorist attacks. The noise of machine guns, grenade explosions and helicopter rockets was music to the ears of Pfc. Joshua Staugler.

"It's a rush," said Staugler, 22, of Celina, Ohio, during a live-fire exercise. "Your adrenaline is up. You just have to trust all the guys you're with."

In Beaufort, S.C., members of the Marine Corps Air Station began flying out, headed for the USS Theodore Roosevelt in the Mediterranean. Other personnel moved out earlier in the week.

"The shock of last week is starting to wear off," said Capt. Eric Dent, a base spokesman. "Everybody's leaning forward in anticipation of what can be done to help."

Apprehensive family members, meanwhile, waited and worried.

"I'm scared for my sons, and I'm scared for America," said Judy Mead-Morgan, 49, of Bridgewater, N.J., who has one son aboard the USS Enterprise in the Persian Gulf and another in the U.S. Marine Corps reserves.

"I'm very proud of them, but I'm torn. I don't want them to be there, and yet I do," she said.

(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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Author: 6 ABC - Action News