
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 26, 1991                   TAG: 9102260245
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The New York Times
DATELINE: WITH THE UNITED STATES 7TH CORPS IN IRAQ                                LENGTH: Medium

TROOPS' MOVEMENT MAJESTIC

From the air over the scrub-covered Iraqi desert, the scene on Monday was one of both majesty and utter menace: More than 100,000 soldiers and their machines stretched from the border of Saudi Arabia north into the dusty horizon deep into the core of enemy territory.

Military officers described this huge convoy as the single-largest American troop movement since World War II.

Everywhere, desert sands that had been marked only with the prints of camels and the footprints of their Bedouin masters had become a frantic thoroughfare for the day-old northward push of American troops, weapons, and equipment from the Army's 7th Corps.

The soldiers and their heavy armor stretched as far north and south as the eye could see beneath darkly overcast skies.

During a helicopter trip with corps officials on Monday, it was possible to make out individual American soldiers as they peered into the distance, their faces a picture of exhilaration to have penetrated far behind the Iraqi border and of apprehension at what may lay ahead.

"When you look down, almost every soldier would give you a thumbs-up or wave a small flag," said Sgt. Maj. Martin Shupe, 44, of Palm Springs, Calif., describing the American convoy.

"There's a pride in being an American and being involved in something so historic."

On a patch of the softly undulating sandy hills lying some 25 miles into Iraqi territory, burned-out rocket pods lay at the spot where only hours earlier rockets were launched against Iraqi troop positions to the north.

The 7th Corps, which forms the leading edge of the American-led ground assault against Iraq, first crossed the mine-studded border from Saudi Arabia early on Sunday morning.

By Monday afternoon, the corps' chief scouts, the men of the Army's 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, were reported to have reached as far as 80 miles north and east into Iraq, leading a modern-day wagon train of soldiers and heavy armor.

At the front of the trail snaking into Iraq on Monday were heavily armored scouting vehicles of the 2nd Armored Cavalry, an elite, largely self-contained unit that had been at the head of Patton's 3rd Army as it battled across Europe during World War II.

"When you see a moving armored division, it's awesome," said Lt. Col. James W. Gleisberg of 7th Corps headquarters.

by CNB