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United States Forces Steadily Building in Kuwait City

Aired February 11, 2003 - 14:18   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Fathers kiss their wives and children goodbye. They're headed off to face the possibility of war. Ohio's Army National Guard is being deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom. The three units represent about 300 troops from Kettering, Columbus and Cincinnati.
For more on troop deployment and movement we go back to our Martin Savidge live in Kuwait City.

Hi, Marty.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the number of U.S. troops said to be in country as of today, well, over 60,000 and growing. We estimate the numbers are actually growing by several thousand troops every single day. It was interesting. We took a drive up towards the border. We made a similar drive a couple of weeks ago, and you note the changes that in that short period of time that have come about. First and foremost to see a lot more military convoys on the road. Those convoys are escorted by jeeps that are escorted by machine guns front, and back and new bases springing up almost like desert flowers. And they are much closer to the highways than previous times.

Also large earthen berms set up alongside the highway to prevent people, say, who aren't in the military getting close to the bases now springing up. Keep in mind of course all of Northern Kuwait will be declared completely a military training zone that will be off limits to civilians. That will begin on Friday. So they are getting ready.

CNN's Aaron Brown is also in the Persian Gulf. He just returned from traveling with a group of marines preparing for a possible invasion of Iraq. Here's his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here in the vastness of the Kuwaiti desert, less than 20 miles from the border with Iraq, this is what the reality of war sounds like. American Marines, most of whom have been in the desert for more than two weeks, have ratcheting up their training schedule, cleaning and adjusting their weapons. And for these Marines, that kind of routine actually means something. These are combat engineers. They will be among the first to go in if American land forces are called upon to invade Iraq.

LANCE CPT. LUCAS PALLAN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Work with the explosives. Basically, they explode like a breached lane through wire or whatever we have to do. BROWN: If you see concern on the faces of these Marines, some of it is being erased by men like First Sergeant Michael Miller.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody understand how it come together now, right?

BROWN: The reason is that Sergeant Miller has been here before. He was in the Marines on the ground during the first Gulf War.

SGT. MICHAEL MILLER, U.S. MARINE CORPS: The Marines are the same. Think the job we're going to do is probably going to be about the same once this thing kick off. Don't see it no more than three months. We should wrap it up.

BROWN: And that, says the sergeant, is not born of arrogance but experience.

MILLER: With the doctrine that we've studied with Saddam, with him when the mine fields and the way that we are going to breach his mine field, he needs artillery and air to support it. But by the time we go across the border, he wouldn't have the air and artillery to support it. So we can take our time getting across the mine fields and make it to our objectives.

BROWN: Every day, more men and material are moving across the desert. The U.S. forces are getting reintroduced to some powerful weapons. This, for instance, is a Mark-19, a grenade launcher that can take out an enemy troop carrier at a half a mile. They treat it with tender and loving care.

CPT. JOSEPH GREMLICH, U.S. MARINE CORPS: It's different than actually training and know you're about to go into it for real. I'm pretty sure everybody is ready.

BROWN: Whether it is weapons like these or smaller weapons like M-16s that these Marines will carry into battle, they know that they are part of a land armada that is growing here in Kuwait quite literally every hour and every day. Equipment is being unloaded at Kuwaiti ports at a furious pace. American convoys growl through the streets of Kuwait City on a routine basis. And while there mate be a great deal of nervousness, you can't find many of the Marines who will say so out loud. They are, after all, Marines.

MILLER: We've been trained by the best. We're prepared by the best. So the confidence level is there. I don't see any problem. Maybe when we get the order to go across, might be a few nerves but we got good NCOS. We've got good small unit leaders and they'll adapt and overcome. It's just the way the Marine Corps has been done for over 225 years.

BROWN: Aaron Brown, CNN Kuwait.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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 11, 2003 - 14:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Fathers kiss their wives and children goodbye. They're headed off to face the possibility of war. Ohio's Army National Guard is being deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom. The three units represent about 300 troops from Kettering, Columbus and Cincinnati.
For more on troop deployment and movement we go back to our Martin Savidge live in Kuwait City.

Hi, Marty.

MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, the number of U.S. troops said to be in country as of today, well, over 60,000 and growing. We estimate the numbers are actually growing by several thousand troops every single day. It was interesting. We took a drive up towards the border. We made a similar drive a couple of weeks ago, and you note the changes that in that short period of time that have come about. First and foremost to see a lot more military convoys on the road. Those convoys are escorted by jeeps that are escorted by machine guns front, and back and new bases springing up almost like desert flowers. And they are much closer to the highways than previous times.

Also large earthen berms set up alongside the highway to prevent people, say, who aren't in the military getting close to the bases now springing up. Keep in mind of course all of Northern Kuwait will be declared completely a military training zone that will be off limits to civilians. That will begin on Friday. So they are getting ready.

CNN's Aaron Brown is also in the Persian Gulf. He just returned from traveling with a group of marines preparing for a possible invasion of Iraq. Here's his report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

AARON BROWN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Here in the vastness of the Kuwaiti desert, less than 20 miles from the border with Iraq, this is what the reality of war sounds like. American Marines, most of whom have been in the desert for more than two weeks, have ratcheting up their training schedule, cleaning and adjusting their weapons. And for these Marines, that kind of routine actually means something. These are combat engineers. They will be among the first to go in if American land forces are called upon to invade Iraq.

LANCE CPT. LUCAS PALLAN, U.S. MARINE CORPS: Work with the explosives. Basically, they explode like a breached lane through wire or whatever we have to do. BROWN: If you see concern on the faces of these Marines, some of it is being erased by men like First Sergeant Michael Miller.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Everybody understand how it come together now, right?

BROWN: The reason is that Sergeant Miller has been here before. He was in the Marines on the ground during the first Gulf War.

SGT. MICHAEL MILLER, U.S. MARINE CORPS: The Marines are the same. Think the job we're going to do is probably going to be about the same once this thing kick off. Don't see it no more than three months. We should wrap it up.

BROWN: And that, says the sergeant, is not born of arrogance but experience.

MILLER: With the doctrine that we've studied with Saddam, with him when the mine fields and the way that we are going to breach his mine field, he needs artillery and air to support it. But by the time we go across the border, he wouldn't have the air and artillery to support it. So we can take our time getting across the mine fields and make it to our objectives.

BROWN: Every day, more men and material are moving across the desert. The U.S. forces are getting reintroduced to some powerful weapons. This, for instance, is a Mark-19, a grenade launcher that can take out an enemy troop carrier at a half a mile. They treat it with tender and loving care.

CPT. JOSEPH GREMLICH, U.S. MARINE CORPS: It's different than actually training and know you're about to go into it for real. I'm pretty sure everybody is ready.

BROWN: Whether it is weapons like these or smaller weapons like M-16s that these Marines will carry into battle, they know that they are part of a land armada that is growing here in Kuwait quite literally every hour and every day. Equipment is being unloaded at Kuwaiti ports at a furious pace. American convoys growl through the streets of Kuwait City on a routine basis. And while there mate be a great deal of nervousness, you can't find many of the Marines who will say so out loud. They are, after all, Marines.

MILLER: We've been trained by the best. We're prepared by the best. So the confidence level is there. I don't see any problem. Maybe when we get the order to go across, might be a few nerves but we got good NCOS. We've got good small unit leaders and they'll adapt and overcome. It's just the way the Marine Corps has been done for over 225 years.

BROWN: Aaron Brown, CNN Kuwait.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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