DATE: Saturday, November 15, 1997           TAG: 9711150345

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  116 lines

NORFOLK SHIPS TO JOIN GULF BUILDUP U.S. CONSIDERS SENDING F-117S; BRITAIN ORDERS CARRIER TO MED

Sailors and airmen from Hampton Roads headed for another showdown with Iraq on Friday, as President Clinton ordered the Norfolk-based aircraft carrier George Washington to the Persian Gulf amid the United Nations' dwindling patience with Saddam Hussein.

The carrier, which left Norfolk on a six-month deployment Oct. 3, was bound for the Suez Canal from the eastern Mediterranean Sea later Friday, headed for a rendezvous with an already mighty American armada in the gulf led by the carrier Nimitz.

Accompanying the George Washington through the canal and into the Red Sea were the guided-missile cruiser Normandy, from Norfolk; the guided-missile destroyer Carney, from Mayport, Fla.; the fast attack submarine Annapolis, from Groton, Conn.; and the fast combat support ship Seattle, based in Earle, N.J.

The Pentagon also was considering sending F-117 stealth fighters, used for precision air strikes, and other Air Force warplanes. Defense Secretary William Cohen said the administration was ``reviewing all sorts of options'' for military moves.

In a coordinated buildup of forces, Britain also ordered its carrier HMS Invincible, with six Harrier jets aboard, to proceed to Gibraltar from the Caribbean. Britain also prepared to deploy eight more attack Harriers to Gibraltar next week to beef up firepower on the Invincible.

In all, about 4,000 military personnel from Hampton Roads are heading toward the Persian Gulf region, a trip expected to take six days.

There they will join the ships of the Middle East Task Force, which includes the Norfolk-based guided missile frigate Elrod, on deployment since July 15, and the dozen ships of the Nimitz Battle Group, all of which are based in Pacific ports.

The Navy's growing presence is augmented by another 200 land-based aircraft, including a squadron of 18 F-15 Eagle fighters from Langley Air Force Base in Hampton that are nearing the end of a 45-day deployment to Saudi Arabia.

Together, the George Washington and Nimitz would have about 160 tactical aircraft at their disposal, many of which are capable of launching long-range missile and bombing strikes.

The surface ships and submarine accompanying the George Washington bring an additional 224 missile-launch tubes to the region, all capable of launching the long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles that proved so effective in the Persian Gulf war. The Nimitz Battle Group includes a number of missile-capable surface ships.

In Washington, Clinton called for a united front, saying, ``We have to steel ourselves and be determined.''

The United States continued to press for an elusive diplomatic solution, but the arms buildup underscored the possibility of military action. With some allies reluctant to use force, the White House asserted Clinton could act on his own if necessary.

In Iraq, the last 68 U.N. weapons inspectors boarded a plane and flew to Bahrain, leaving in solidarity with the six American members of the team who were expelled.

Foreign Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf said Iraq would not be surprised if the crisis escalated into a military confrontation and accused the United States and Britain of seeking such a clash.

Despite Saddam's defiance, some American allies - notably France, Russia and Egypt - were decidedly cool about military options. It appeared unlikely the Security Council would sanction the use of force unless Saddam directly threatened his neighbors or fired on U.S. spy planes.

``Obviously, diplomacy is not exhausted since we have a number of people, from the president on down, engaged in it at this moment,'' White House press secretary Mike McCurry said. But he asserted anew that the United States would act alone if necessary. ``Diplomacy may not work,'' McCurry said.

The buildup is sending about a tenth of the Hampton Roads residents to the gulf as went during the Persian Gulf war in 1991. An estimated 40,000 area soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines and 40 ships joined the half-million troops assigned to the war effort then.

The latest buildup has more in common with the Navy's September 1996 response to Iraq's siege of the Kurdish-controlled city of Irbil.

In that conflict, the Norfolk-based carrier Enterprise was dispatched from patrols in the Adriatic Sea to join the West Coast-based carrier Carl Vinson.

Iraq pulled back most of its troops from the contested Kurdish enclave after two U.S. missile strikes, and American-led air patrols met only token resistance in enforcing newly expanded ``no-fly zones'' over Iraq.

The G.W. and its 80-plane air wing includes one squadron of a dozen F-14 Tomcat fighters from Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach - VF-102 - and one squadron of four E-2C Hawkeye radar planes from the Norfolk Naval Air Station - Airborne Early Warning Squadron 123.

Aboard the Nimitz, which is in the Persian Gulf, are another dozen Oceana-based F-14s, from Fighter Squadron 211.

The Nimitz left its former homeport of Bremerton, Wash., on Sept. 1 to begin its six-month cruise. It is scheduled to end that deployment in Norfolk in March, where it will begin a three-year overhaul and nuclear refueling. Following that, it will become a permanent Norfolk-based ship.

More than 70 percent of the Nimitz crew's families already have moved to Hampton Roads, officials said. The ship has a crew of about 2,900, and two-thirds of them are married.

About 300 maintenance and security personnel accompany the 94th Fighter Squadron from Langley Air Force Base in Hampton. They are one of three F-15 Eagle fighter squadrons from Langley that rotate duty there for 45 days at a time. They left about Oct. 1 and are scheduled to return by mid-November.

Replacing them will be about 240 members of the 27th Fighter Squadron from Langley. They are scheduled to leave their Hampton base on Tuesday to begin their 45-day deployment. Langley has left the aircraft in place at Saudi Arabia, only rotating the crews in and out. At the end of the 27th squadron's deployment, they will return the aircraft to Langley, allowing another fighter wing to use their aircraft.

Two other Norfolk-based ships, the Aegis destroyer Barry and the guided-missile frigate Samuel B. Roberts, are scheduled to leave their homes today to begin six-month deployments in the Middle East.

Their sailing today is merely a coincidence with the ongoing crisis and had been scheduled for some time. They will relieve the Elrod and the Mayport, Fla.-based destroyer O'Bannon.

The Roberts is to leave from Pier 2 of the Norfolk Naval Station at 9:30 a.m., and the Barry is to depart from Pier 24 at 10:30 a.m. MEMO: The Associated Press contributed to this report. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

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