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CNN Live Saturday
Troops Come Home For Some Needed R&R
Aired September 27, 2003 - 14:14 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.
JUDY FORTIN, CNN ANCHOR: Some U.S. troops are home from Iraq. Others gearing up to ship out.
Let's bring in CNN Pentagon correspondent, Chris Plante. A lot of emotion out there for families and the soldier as well. Right, Chris?
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's true, Judy. And last night the Pentagon made the announcement fairly late in the evening that two U.S. Army National Guard brigades will be mobilized for deployment to Iraq. It's a total of about 10,000 troops that got their notification last night.
The first brigade is the 36th Infantry Brigade from North Carolina. Five thousand men and women assigned to that unit, and they're expected to report for duty on October 1st. The second unit is the 39th Infantry Brigade from Arkansas. They will report for duty on October 12th.
Now, it's worth pointing out these units were notified in late July, on July 26th, that they would be next up if it came time to mobilize additional brigades. That official notification did come last night. They had some lead time. They are expected to be mobilized for about 18 months.
Up to 12 months of that will be in Iraq proper. The rest of the time will be used in advance to train them up for their specific duties over there and then for demobilizing them at the end.
Also alerted last night was an Army National Guard brigade form the state of Washington. They have not actually been mobilized at this point. But just as these first two brigades were notified in late July that they would be next up, this brigade in the state of Washington has also now been notified that they will be next up, if it comes time to deploy yet another National Guard brigade.
At the same time, yesterday, or starting yesterday, a number of troops who have been serving in Iraq started returning to the United States for a little bit of R&R, as they call it in the military, a little rest and recuperation. And at Baltimore-Washington Airport yesterday, these troops began arriving from Iraq. Some of the troops were flown to Europe, as I understand it, and some to the United States, where they get 15 days here in the United States of rest and recuperation before then returning to Iraq to continue with their duties there.
A little R&R is always a good thing. Two weeks is going to go by very quickly.
Also out today is a "Newsweek" poll. And we just covered one of the questions in that "Newsweek" poll a couple of minutes ago. But "Newsweek" asked Americans whether they would consider the number of U.S. military personnel in Iraq.
"Do you think that the United States should send more troops to Iraq?" Fourteen percent of Americans responded yes to that. Keep the same amount of troops, 20 percent of Americans said yes to that. And reduce the number and begin bringing troops home, nearly half of Americans polled, 49 percent, said that we should begin reducing the number of troops in Iraq -- Judy.
FORTIN: Chris Plante, live at Pentagon. Thank you.
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 September 27, 2003 - 14:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY FORTIN, CNN ANCHOR: Some U.S. troops are home from Iraq. Others gearing up to ship out.
Let's bring in CNN Pentagon correspondent, Chris Plante. A lot of emotion out there for families and the soldier as well. Right, Chris?
CHRIS PLANTE, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's true, Judy. And last night the Pentagon made the announcement fairly late in the evening that two U.S. Army National Guard brigades will be mobilized for deployment to Iraq. It's a total of about 10,000 troops that got their notification last night.
The first brigade is the 36th Infantry Brigade from North Carolina. Five thousand men and women assigned to that unit, and they're expected to report for duty on October 1st. The second unit is the 39th Infantry Brigade from Arkansas. They will report for duty on October 12th.
Now, it's worth pointing out these units were notified in late July, on July 26th, that they would be next up if it came time to mobilize additional brigades. That official notification did come last night. They had some lead time. They are expected to be mobilized for about 18 months.
Up to 12 months of that will be in Iraq proper. The rest of the time will be used in advance to train them up for their specific duties over there and then for demobilizing them at the end.
Also alerted last night was an Army National Guard brigade form the state of Washington. They have not actually been mobilized at this point. But just as these first two brigades were notified in late July that they would be next up, this brigade in the state of Washington has also now been notified that they will be next up, if it comes time to deploy yet another National Guard brigade.
At the same time, yesterday, or starting yesterday, a number of troops who have been serving in Iraq started returning to the United States for a little bit of R&R, as they call it in the military, a little rest and recuperation. And at Baltimore-Washington Airport yesterday, these troops began arriving from Iraq. Some of the troops were flown to Europe, as I understand it, and some to the United States, where they get 15 days here in the United States of rest and recuperation before then returning to Iraq to continue with their duties there.
A little R&R is always a good thing. Two weeks is going to go by very quickly.
Also out today is a "Newsweek" poll. And we just covered one of the questions in that "Newsweek" poll a couple of minutes ago. But "Newsweek" asked Americans whether they would consider the number of U.S. military personnel in Iraq.
"Do you think that the United States should send more troops to Iraq?" Fourteen percent of Americans responded yes to that. Keep the same amount of troops, 20 percent of Americans said yes to that. And reduce the number and begin bringing troops home, nearly half of Americans polled, 49 percent, said that we should begin reducing the number of troops in Iraq -- Judy.
FORTIN: Chris Plante, live at Pentagon. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
