CBS: One more sign of how 'thinly stretched' Army is now David Edwards and Muriel Kane

Published: Monday June 11, 2007 Print This Email This CBS News reported Sunday that the final members of the 82nd Airborne are about to leave Fort Bragg for Iraq, saying, "This is only going to be to be the second time since World War II that the entire 82nd Airborne will be deployed overseas. Just one more sign of how thinly stretched the Army is right now." The report continues, "Commanders say if an emergency happened elsewhere in the world, they could draw ground troops from Iraq and units recuperating at bases back in the U.S. But it won't be easy" because neither equipment nor personnel on leave would be immediately available. As a result, there are concerns about the ability of the military to respond to a crisis. The following video is from CBS Evening News, broadcast on June 10.

RUSH TRANSCRIPT RUSS MITCHELL: And good evening, once again the battle for Iraq is striking close to home ear in the U.S. With repercussions that could be feld around the world. The 82nd Airborne are packing up to leave Ft. Bragg for duty in Iraq. Joie chen is in washington with more on the deployment and the strain on the Pentagon's manpower. Joie, good evening. REPORTER: Good evening, russ. This is only going to be to be the second time since world war that the entire 82nd Airborne will be deployed overseas. Just one more sign of how thinly stretched the arm see right now. Tonight what's left of the 82nd Airborne flies to Kuwait on its way to Iraq for a one-year tour. For decades the 82nd Airborne has been the go-to team in a time of crisis. But now they are all deployed. The surge is in full swing, but some worry its demands could be draining America's ability to respond to a crisis. MITCHELL: we are in a pretty tight position in being able to respond rapidly the way we would like. REPORTER: Of the Army's 44 combat brigades, nearly half are in Iraq or Afghanistan. MITCHELL: we can't keep this level of commitment up indefinitely in my judgment, with the size Army and Marine Corps that we have. REPORTER: More than 400,000 U.S. Troops have served multiple tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. 20 combat brigades have been deployed twice. 11 brigades have had three tours or more. MITCHELL: we are deeply committed in Iraq. And the longer we stay there, the more troops we add, the less flexibility we have to respond elsewhere in the world. REPORTER: Although the Pentagon admits readiness has been compromised, commanders say if an emergency happened elsewhere in the world, they could draw ground troops from Iraq and units recuperating at bases back in the U.S. But it won't be easy. MITCHELL: most of that Army has its equipment in depot or its people on leave or its reservists deactivated or temporarily back with their families. REPORTER: Right now in the very final moments for the 82nd Airborne, as you see they are down in Ft. Bragg, north carolina, at this hour getting on to the last flights, on their way overseas and into combat. With the entire brigade now deployed, the job of being the ready brigade now falls to the 101st at fort campbell, kentucky. They will be the ready brigade, the go-to team as it were, ready to respond to any crisis anywhere in the world at any time. But guess what, russ: That team is also scheduled to deploy to Iraq by the end of the year. MITCHELL: Joie chen in washington, thank you very much. It was another day of violent attacks in Iraq. A suicide bomber brought down a bridge south of Baghdad, wounding several U.S. Soldiers guarding the crossing. Meanwhile, clashes between American troops and shiite militias left five Iraqis dead. All this comes as U.S. Forces step up a plan to make progress block by block. Chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan has more from Baghdad. LOGAN: The U.S. Military calls this area of Aamel in southern Baghdad a model neighborhood. As we drove through sewage water, past piles of rotting trash, soldiers from the blacklines infantry battalion explained it like this. Surge troops are trying to turn troubled hot spots into a model for other neighborhoods to follow. By isolating the area and restricting access, they've been able to make it temporarily more secure, which they say allows the soldiers to start bringing back essential services for people who have been struggling without for years now. SOLDIER: as you can imagine, they have about an hour of electricity from the government every day. It's pretty hot here. With no electricity, they can't run air conditioning, they can't pump water, that sort of thing. LOGAN: The fastest way to fix that problem is by bringing in large generators. The plan is to reach every one of the 450 homes in the area so people will see a real benefit. The Army hopes that with American soldiers staying in the neighborhoods they're trying to secure, at combat outposts like this one, the locals will feel better protected. MITCHELL: we live probably five minutes from here. So as opposed to being 45 minutes to drive up here if something happens, we can physically hear attacks and send a patrol, and usually when the patrol comes in the area, it will stop any level of violence that is going on. LOGAN: But there is only so much these soldiers can do on their own. Their efforts need the support of the Iraqi government, and that is what soldiers tracking the progress of the surge are most concerned about. In less than a week, all the troops for the surge will finally be in position. And commanders will be pushing hard to get results here on the ground before the september deadline for America's top general, David Petraeus, to report back to congress, russ. MITCHELL: Let's go back to what you said about American troops staying in those neighborhoods they are trying to secure. As you said, it is designed to make people in the neighborhood feel better. But how much more vulnerable does it make these soldiers to attacks? LOGAN: Well, they are significantly more vulnerable, but they do put a lot of resources in to keeping those bases protected. If you can imagine, russ, they're behind layers and layers and layers of concrete blast walls that really stretch up into the sky. There is barbed wire, heavy machine guns, 24-hour security, and very often a bradley armored fighting vehicle, which almost defeats the purpose of them being in the neighborhoods and being near the people. They say it is a risky strategy but it's worth the risk so far. MITCHELL: Lara Logan in Baghdad, thank you.



