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American Morning
U.S. Preparing for War
Aired March 17, 2003 - 07:40 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As the U.S. advises weapons inspectors to leave Iraq, U.S. troops in the region are getting ready for war, waiting for their orders.
Alessio Vinci is with the Marines in Kuwait, where live-fire exercises took place just hours ago. He joins us now by videophone.
Alessio -- good morning.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.
Actually, those exercises are still ongoing now, and there was supposed to be a long day of exercises here for the assault companies of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Marine Division. However, we are told that that exercise is being cut short now, that everybody has to return back to the bases by nightfall.
This, of course, does not mean that the order to move north has come. It means that these Marines, after conducting the exercises, the live-fire exercise today -- meaning using real ammunition, real bullets -- will have to go back to the camp and be ready, pack their C-bags (ph), pack their backpacks, make sure that they have everything ready if and when the order to move to Iraq -- into southern Iraq is issued. So they will have to be prepared to do that.
Of course, the Marines here are not just training with their military equipment, with their rifles, with the AAV -- the Assault Amphibious Vehicles which are the vehicles that you can see here behind me -- but they are also testing and training their muscles, because in order to conduct a war, they have to have a top-notch physical condition.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VINCI (voice-over): To be prepared for war, everything must be in shape...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No pain, no gain!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No pain, no gain!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No pain, no gain!
VINCI: ... the bodies of the Marines as well as the engines of their armor. But with daytime temperatures over 85 degrees Fahrenheit and rising, a two-and-a-half-mile run is a challenge for some of the mainly well-trained Marines of task force Parawah (ph), and there is little time left to get into shape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometime in the near future, we don't know when it's coming, but it's coming. We're going to be crossing a couple of barrens about 20 kilometers to the west, and it's going to be a race war.
VINCI: Lieutenant Colonel Rick Robowski (ph) says that race north will be as fast as his men's weakest link, because no one will be left behind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to depend on each other when we go across, and I need you to reach down and grab some and stay tough and stay strong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go!
VINCI: The training is also aimed at keeping morale high, not easy when you command thousands of Marines camped in tents under a blazing sun for a month with nothing else to think about other than going to war or returning back home.
So training also includes a final sprint race with a reward.
1ST SGT. JOSE HENAO, U.S. MARINES: And the two top finishers from the company is going to get a phone call tonight to call home.
VINCI: For the winner of one of the races, the grueling exercise paid off.
CPL. BLASE JORDAN, U.S. MARINES: This means a lot, you know, because it keeps you active and it helps to take your mind off, like, OK, I'm missing home, I'm missing my wife.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VINCI: And you see, Paula, even the toughest and the strongest have feelings. The Marines here are very much missing their homes. They've been out here already a month. They're ready to go to war, because as soon as the war starts, they say, the sooner they'll be able to get back home -- Paula.
ZAHN: Alessio Vinci, thanks so much. We'll be coming back to you a little bit later on this morning.
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 March 17, 2003 - 07:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As the U.S. advises weapons inspectors to leave Iraq, U.S. troops in the region are getting ready for war, waiting for their orders.
Alessio Vinci is with the Marines in Kuwait, where live-fire exercises took place just hours ago. He joins us now by videophone.
Alessio -- good morning.
ALESSIO VINCI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Paula.
Actually, those exercises are still ongoing now, and there was supposed to be a long day of exercises here for the assault companies of the 1st Battalion of the 2nd Marine Division. However, we are told that that exercise is being cut short now, that everybody has to return back to the bases by nightfall.
This, of course, does not mean that the order to move north has come. It means that these Marines, after conducting the exercises, the live-fire exercise today -- meaning using real ammunition, real bullets -- will have to go back to the camp and be ready, pack their C-bags (ph), pack their backpacks, make sure that they have everything ready if and when the order to move to Iraq -- into southern Iraq is issued. So they will have to be prepared to do that.
Of course, the Marines here are not just training with their military equipment, with their rifles, with the AAV -- the Assault Amphibious Vehicles which are the vehicles that you can see here behind me -- but they are also testing and training their muscles, because in order to conduct a war, they have to have a top-notch physical condition.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VINCI (voice-over): To be prepared for war, everything must be in shape...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No pain, no gain!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No pain, no gain!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No pain, no gain!
VINCI: ... the bodies of the Marines as well as the engines of their armor. But with daytime temperatures over 85 degrees Fahrenheit and rising, a two-and-a-half-mile run is a challenge for some of the mainly well-trained Marines of task force Parawah (ph), and there is little time left to get into shape.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sometime in the near future, we don't know when it's coming, but it's coming. We're going to be crossing a couple of barrens about 20 kilometers to the west, and it's going to be a race war.
VINCI: Lieutenant Colonel Rick Robowski (ph) says that race north will be as fast as his men's weakest link, because no one will be left behind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have to depend on each other when we go across, and I need you to reach down and grab some and stay tough and stay strong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Here we go!
VINCI: The training is also aimed at keeping morale high, not easy when you command thousands of Marines camped in tents under a blazing sun for a month with nothing else to think about other than going to war or returning back home.
So training also includes a final sprint race with a reward.
1ST SGT. JOSE HENAO, U.S. MARINES: And the two top finishers from the company is going to get a phone call tonight to call home.
VINCI: For the winner of one of the races, the grueling exercise paid off.
CPL. BLASE JORDAN, U.S. MARINES: This means a lot, you know, because it keeps you active and it helps to take your mind off, like, OK, I'm missing home, I'm missing my wife.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VINCI: And you see, Paula, even the toughest and the strongest have feelings. The Marines here are very much missing their homes. They've been out here already a month. They're ready to go to war, because as soon as the war starts, they say, the sooner they'll be able to get back home -- Paula.
ZAHN: Alessio Vinci, thanks so much. We'll be coming back to you a little bit later on this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
