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American Morning

Reporting from Kuwait

Aired February 17, 2003 - 08:18   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back here in the Kuwaiti desert with the Third Infantry Division of the U.S. Army.
Say hello to Captain Chris Carter out of Athens, Georgia.

Nice to see you, Captain.

Behind us here is a Bradley fighting vehicle.

We're about to see an exercise.

What's happening? Take us through it.

CAPT. CHRIS CARTER, U.S. ARMY: At this time, the Bradley fighting vehicle's moving forward and he's occupying a support by fire position. What he's going to do is lay down suppressive fire at enemy forces, which prevents the enemy forces from laying down accurate fire at us and allow our maneuver forces to then flank the enemy.

In a second, you'll see the Bradley drop the ramp and we'll have some infantry soldiers come out of the back of it. They will also fire suppressive fire, move to the right of the vehicle and place more accurate fire at individual soldiers on the ground.

HEMMER: Quickly, the target down range is how far from here?

CARTER: It's approximately 1,500 meters at this point.

HEMMER: OK. Six men inside?

CARTER: Six men inside.

HEMMER: Carrying M-16s?

CARTER: M-16s, squad automatic weapons, 203 automatic grenade launchers.

HEMMER: In the field of battle, when would you see a scenario like this?

CARTER: In a scenario like this, they would actually come out and provide the maneuverability for another unit. So in this instance, we would have another vehicle or possibly several vehicles moving to the left or to the right, which would allow, our guys would allow them to move.

HEMMER: So you would essentially be providing cover in that situation?

CARTER: Absolutely.

HEMMER: OK, now we're seeing them on the ground right now. At which point do they get up and then extract?

CARTER: They'll get up and extract once the maneuver element, which we can't see at this time, has gained an advantageous position.

HEMMER: God, I hear some screaming out there, too. How do they communicate?

CARTER: They communicate voice between each other and also they have, they do have radio communications.

HEMMER: Now is this the beginning of the extraction that we're seeing right now, sir?

CARTER: This is the beginning of the extraction right now. So the vehicle is providing cover fire for them to get back on and they will bound back in groups of two into the vehicle.

HEMMER: And then they'll pull out.

CARTER: Yes.

HEMMER: How much is this training helping the U.S. military right now?

CARTER: Oh, this is absolutely great training. Any time infantrymen, we get to go out and shoot live rounds, we love it and it's just increasing our proficiency.

HEMMER: You say you love it. Are you ready for war?

CARTER: If our country asks us to go, we are absolutely ready to go.

HEMMER: What happens, though, if you come half a world away and don't go to war? Pack up and go home?

CARTER: Well, we'll go back home better trained soldiers and ready for the next time our country calls.

HEMMER: And chalk it up to good training.

CARTER: Chalk it up to great training.

HEMMER: Thank you, Captain.

You're a good tour guide.

CARTER: Cool.

HEMMER: Appreciate it.

CARTER: Thank you.

HEMMER: Captain Chris Carter from the Third Infantry Division here in Kuwait.

Much more coming up later, Paula -- back to you now in New York.

ZAHN: Thanks, Bill.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired February 17, 2003 - 08:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back here in the Kuwaiti desert with the Third Infantry Division of the U.S. Army.
Say hello to Captain Chris Carter out of Athens, Georgia.

Nice to see you, Captain.

Behind us here is a Bradley fighting vehicle.

We're about to see an exercise.

What's happening? Take us through it.

CAPT. CHRIS CARTER, U.S. ARMY: At this time, the Bradley fighting vehicle's moving forward and he's occupying a support by fire position. What he's going to do is lay down suppressive fire at enemy forces, which prevents the enemy forces from laying down accurate fire at us and allow our maneuver forces to then flank the enemy.

In a second, you'll see the Bradley drop the ramp and we'll have some infantry soldiers come out of the back of it. They will also fire suppressive fire, move to the right of the vehicle and place more accurate fire at individual soldiers on the ground.

HEMMER: Quickly, the target down range is how far from here?

CARTER: It's approximately 1,500 meters at this point.

HEMMER: OK. Six men inside?

CARTER: Six men inside.

HEMMER: Carrying M-16s?

CARTER: M-16s, squad automatic weapons, 203 automatic grenade launchers.

HEMMER: In the field of battle, when would you see a scenario like this?

CARTER: In a scenario like this, they would actually come out and provide the maneuverability for another unit. So in this instance, we would have another vehicle or possibly several vehicles moving to the left or to the right, which would allow, our guys would allow them to move.

HEMMER: So you would essentially be providing cover in that situation?

CARTER: Absolutely.

HEMMER: OK, now we're seeing them on the ground right now. At which point do they get up and then extract?

CARTER: They'll get up and extract once the maneuver element, which we can't see at this time, has gained an advantageous position.

HEMMER: God, I hear some screaming out there, too. How do they communicate?

CARTER: They communicate voice between each other and also they have, they do have radio communications.

HEMMER: Now is this the beginning of the extraction that we're seeing right now, sir?

CARTER: This is the beginning of the extraction right now. So the vehicle is providing cover fire for them to get back on and they will bound back in groups of two into the vehicle.

HEMMER: And then they'll pull out.

CARTER: Yes.

HEMMER: How much is this training helping the U.S. military right now?

CARTER: Oh, this is absolutely great training. Any time infantrymen, we get to go out and shoot live rounds, we love it and it's just increasing our proficiency.

HEMMER: You say you love it. Are you ready for war?

CARTER: If our country asks us to go, we are absolutely ready to go.

HEMMER: What happens, though, if you come half a world away and don't go to war? Pack up and go home?

CARTER: Well, we'll go back home better trained soldiers and ready for the next time our country calls.

HEMMER: And chalk it up to good training.

CARTER: Chalk it up to great training.

HEMMER: Thank you, Captain.

You're a good tour guide.

CARTER: Cool.

HEMMER: Appreciate it.

CARTER: Thank you.

HEMMER: Captain Chris Carter from the Third Infantry Division here in Kuwait.

Much more coming up later, Paula -- back to you now in New York.

ZAHN: Thanks, Bill.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com