Citizen Soldiers: The Reserve Braces for Iraq Invasion

Contractors Rush in to Murky Territory: Pueblo Chieftain. Simply a sobering look at what was ahead for the National Guard and Reserves in Iraq. (Nov. 8, 2002).... They could be mobilized for months -- perhaps years.

 

By DAVID PHINNEY

If President Bush decides to prosecute a war against Iraq, it’s likely that hundreds of Colorado’s citizen will play an active role in the effort at home and overseas with the call up of state National Guard and Reserves, according to several prominent military analysts.

Some believe that national mobilization could be as large as the 1991 Persian Gulf War when just over 265,000 were mobilized.

“No matter how you cut it, it will be a huge call up,” said Phil Anderson, a senior fellow for international security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “In the worse case scenario, if you assume there’s a large-scale operation in Iraq , you don’t have any choice but to mobilize.”

Among those will be Colorado’s weekend soldiers who will be expected to put civilian lives on hold as school principals, police officers, airline workers, technology workers and other professions. They could be mobilized for months -- perhaps years -- just as they were following last year’s Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the war on terrorism.

If a new war erupts with Iraq , it may very well be a different kind of war and unlike Desert Storm more than a decade ago.

At that time, a large portion of guardsmen and reservists were stationed rapidly in the Persian Gulf region, according to Michael O’Hanlon, military analyst for the Brookings Institute, who stressed he is only speculating on what may take place.

This time around, forces will be deployed more widely around the world and for a longer period of time, he predicted.

“The initial call-up numbers won’t be quite as high as during the Gulf War, but over the course of a couple of years, they could be,” O’Hanlon said. “There could be a need to occupy Iraq and help keep the peace for an extended period.”

Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks of last year on New York and Washington , the president mobilized Guard and Reserve forces -- including 633 National Guard troops in Colorado -- to beef up homeland protection and support the ensuing campaign in Afghanistan .

“The majority have been demobilized and were activated from December to October so it was quite a long haul,” according to Colorado National Guard spokeswoman Army Capt. Holly Peterson. “We still have a few cats and dogs out there, mostly security forces.”

In the state, a total of 1,400 belong to the Colorado Air National Guard and 3,300 in the Colorado Army National Guard.

“More than 700 were activated during the Gulf War,” Peterson said.

Coloradoans called up in the past year included Guardists with the Pueblo-based Bravo Company of 5th Battalion, 19th Special Forces Group. Approximately 80 were mobilized last December and served in Afghanistan .

In addition to Coloradoans serving in Special Forces based at Fort Collins , hundreds of others were mobilized for air missions, medical, engineering and military police needs. Nationally, the deployment of citizen soldiers since last year peaked in June at 85,595. That number has since dipped down to 58,133 at the beginning of November, according to Pentagon spokesman, Army Lt. Col. Dan Stoneking.

Overall, between 125,000 to 130,000 have been deployed or rotated in the past year, Stoneking said.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

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