THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 19, 1994 TAG: 9410190430
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF REPORT
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Short : 38 lines
The aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower probably will head for the Persian Gulf when it leaves Norfolk on Thursday, a senior defense official confirmed Tuesday.
The official, speaking on condition he not be named, said the Eisenhower is expected to replace the carrier George Washington, which arrived in the gulf over the weekend to bolster the U.S. presence off Kuwait.
President Clinton earlier this month ordered the Washington, which had been operating in the Adriatic Sea, to move to the gulf to counter a buildup of Iraqi troops near the Kuwait border.
The Pentagon said Tuesday that about 7,300 American troops are in the gulf region, including 2,200 Marines aboard ships of the Tripoli amphibious group. Thousands more are en route or on alert.
Pentagon spokesman Dennis Boxx said an Iraqi pullback from the border areas that began last week appears to be continuing. Two divisions of Iraq's Republican Guard, considered the country's best soldiers, have moved to north of the 32nd Parallel and seem bound for their home bases, he said, and elements of a third division are massed near a railhead in southern Iraq in apparent preparation for their withdrawal.
The Eisenhower is leaving on a six-month deployment. The George Washington and other ships in its battle group are expected to return to Norfolk in mid-November.
KEYWORDS: U.S. NAVY PERSIAN GULF IRAQ
DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER U.S.S.
by CNB