Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!linac!att!cbnews!cbnews!military
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Army Divisions
Message-ID: <1991Jan12.011508.24071@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 12 Jan 91 01:15:08 GMT
Sender: military@cbnews.att.com (William B. Thacker)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
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Approved: military@att.att.com



From: sun!apple!cup.portal.com!Eric_S_Klien
"     Let's hope no other 'brushfire' lights up somewhere else in the world.
     So what's left in the 'active duty' inventory and where are they? "
 
If anything happened elsewhere in the world we would be in deep trouble.
Remember that 100% of our active duty cargo ships are being used.  We
are also starting to run out of reserve ships.  There has been some talk
of reactivating the old Victory ships.  So basically we have near zero
sealift and airlift capacity for other conflicts.  On the other hand, we
are going to do real well in Iraq since the world is peaceful enough for
us to go wild and send everything to our buddy Saddam.  I estimate that 50% 
of our firepower has been sent and this number will continue to increase 
until the war with Iraq ends.  An extended war could get us to 60-75% easily.

[mod.note: I think those are "Liberty" ships, not Victory ships. - Bill ]
 
Here is some info from a letter I received, I think the percentages
are a little low based on other letters that I don't have copies of
at the moment:
 
"I don't know the percentage of firepower that has been deployed. The specific
units and the composition of those units remains classified. If we're talking
total power, there is an insignificant amount when strategic nuclear forces
are included. But, if you only consider conventional forces (and a few
tactical nuclear assets) I would say there is quite a bit. Consider, there will
be 6 to 8 of 14 carriers in the region (the Ranger hasn't left yet and there
are rumors that the Nimitz will be sent also) and 2 of 3 active service
battleships. At least 4 of the 13 cruisers which carry Tomahawk missiles are
already there. With the two carrier groups in transit right now I would 
expect another 2.  There are also a few Spruance class destroyers, also
with Tomahawks. Right there is alot of firepower, nearly half the navy's
ground attack capability.
 
There are 9 tactical fighter wings deployed with maybe 3 more to be deployed.
The US has 23 or so active combat wings, so that would be perhaps 40%
of the US tactical air capability. There are 36 of 84 strike B-52s at
Diego Garcia (in the middle of the Indian Ocean), a number that could be
maximized in under 48 hours (40% with a potential of 100%) so that's
a significant ammount of air power.
 
Ground forces, on the other hand, is at this time impossible to estimate. 
With alot of active units being pulled from Germany I would make a rough
guess and say that about 40% of the US ground capability is present in 
Saudi Arabia. This is mostly based on the percentages of air power present and
the balance of combined arms strategy. The US military is based on the
combined armes concept, that air and ground forces should act in tandem
(remember 'blitzkreig'?). If the whole tactical force is based on this, if
40% of the air power is used, then 40% of the ground power will be used.
Now, the sourcebook I have has the US total MBTs at 15,000. I doubt that
the US has 6000 tanks in Saudi Arabia. This number includes training tanks
and those tanks not 'active'. I would guess that there are hundreds of
tanks, mostly M1-A1s. There might be over 1000 (probably) but I really
don't have any information to go on."