THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 17, 1996 TAG: 9604170352
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 43 lines
The last American combat soldiers to leave Haiti, most from Fort Story in Virginia Beach and Fort Eustis in Newport News, are scheduled to arrive home today, officially ending an 18-month United Nations campaign to help restore democracy to the tiny Caribbean nation.
About 150 soldiers, five Army vessels and their equipment from Task Force 7 of the 7th Transportation Group, headquartered at Fort Eustis, are returning.
Of those, 69 soldiers are scheduled to arrive by air at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton at 11 a.m. today. The others, traveling aboard the Army vessels, are due to return during the next week.
The soldiers most recently were responsible for processing the return of the 20,000 American military personnel President Clinton ordered sent to Haiti on Sept. 19, 1994. The troops were part of a multi-national force.
The U.S.-led force was replaced by the U.N. military mission in March 1995. There were 2,400 U.S. troops in the 6,900-member U.N. force.
The last combat soldiers to return are from the 11th Transportation Battalion at Fort Story and Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 7th Transportation Group, including portions of the 6th, 10th and 24th Transportation Battalions at Fort Eustis.
They were responsible for terminal services, including port operations, watercraft operations, cargo handling, automated cargo documentation, and arrival and departure control.
More than 1,500 Fort Story and Fort Eustis soldiers initially deployed to Haiti during the early part of the operation there.
About 230 engineers, non-combat troops, will stay in Haiti until June 1997, said Army Lt. Col. Baxter Ennis, a spokesman for the U.S. Atlantic Command, headquartered in Norfolk. They will conduct bilateral exercises with Haiti in Exercise Fair Winds, said Ennis, including such construction projects as building roads and schools, and digging wells.
KEYWORDS: HAITI by CNB