400 Troops and Patriot Missiles being sent to Turkey

[waltky]

Red tape snafu leaves Patriot missiles in Turkey idle...

US Patriot deployment in Turkey mired in bureaucratic red tape
January 30, 2013 — U.S. Patriot missile batteries deployed as part of the NATO mission to protect Turkey from a possible missile strike from Syria remain inactive in connection with a bureaucratic logjam, according to U.S. officials.

“We’ve been pushing,” said Rep. Rob Wittman, R.-Va.,in an interview Wednesday during a congressional delegation visit at Incirlik Air Base. There is no dispute over the NATO mission itself, but the delay is due to Turkish bureaucratic red tape, Wittman said. He along with others in his delegation met with Turkish President Abdullah Gül and other government officials in an effort to prod action. “We talked with the Turkish government yesterday to make sure that they get the approval process [finished] and making sure the American batteries can be deployed, can be laid down,” said Wittman, whose visit included a breakfast with troops and briefings with military commanders. “There’s a little frustration in making sure that gets done. We emphasized to them the importance of the timeliness of that, especially for our forces, to have this lay down happen. In a friendly way, we pushed the Turkish government to make that happen.” A Turkish defense spokesman did not respond to a request for comment.

U.S. Army Capt. Royal Reff, a spokesman for the U.S. Patriot mission, said soldiers are ready to go, but remain in a holding pattern as discussions between senior U.S. and Turkish officials continue. Meanwhile, Patriot batteries belonging to Germany and the Netherlands have already become operational. Polish Lt. Col. Dariusz Kacperczyk, a NATO spokesman, said those countries have reached bilateral agreements with Turkey, enabling the Netherlands and Germany to activate their batteries in recent days. While troop-contributing nations are responsible for the costs of deploying their troops, it is the host nation that is responsible for the costs of hosting those troops, such as force protection services, Kacperczyk said. A spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Turkey declined to comment on Wednesday about the lack of a bilateral agreement between the U.S. and Turkey or say what potential areas of disagreement could be holding up a deal.

On Incirlik Air Base, the Germans have vacated their temporary housing and moved into a new operation site near the Syrian border. For U.S. troops, it is just a waiting game until they can do the same. “This Air Force base is lovely, but it is not what we came out here for,” said Capt. Samuel Hoolihan, a battery commander with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Air Defense Artillery based out of Fort Sill, Okla. About 400 troops from the battalion are waiting at Incirlik for the green light to move out to Gaziantep, where they are slated to spend a year manning their anti-missile Patriots. On Wednesday, soldiers were busy packing up the last of their gear on Incirlik, including multi-million dollar Patriots, for eventual transport. A final shipment of Patriots also was slated to arrive by ship Wednesday evening. For U.S. soldiers, NATO’s decision in early December to support a Turkish request for air defense support meant cutting short holiday travel plans for some troops. “I had to be the Grinch and cancel Christmas,” said Lt. Col. Charles Branson, commander of the 3rd Battalion. “But this is an exciting mission and the guys are in super spirits. We’re ready to execute.”

Sgt. Jordan Willette, a launcher section chief, was busy Wednesday helping his team secure boxes of Patriots for eventual movement to Gaziantep. After a month at Incirlik, he says he’s “ready to get into a battle rhythm.” The deployment to Turkey was unexpected, but “that’s why you join,” Willette said. “You just hope you’re the one to get that call.” On Dec. 4, NATO defense ministers officially authorized the deployment of Patriots in response to Turkish concerns over cross-border shelling in October that killed several Turkish citizens. By early January, U.S. forces assigned to the Patriot mission were on the ground in Turkey. NATO has about 1,200 troops in Turkey for the mission, unofficially dubbed Active Fence, which aims to shield the border region from potential strikes from Syria.

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[Synthaholic]

We need to insinuate ourselves into Türkiye even more, and get back to 1990s levels of involvement, in troops and total military presence.

In that way, he can have the influence there that we used to have, and slow down Erdogan's march toward Islamic rule.

 

[Mushroom]

if there are no patriot batteries in afghanistan, then i don't think the troops are coming from there.

The article stated that is where they were coming from, thus my comment.

It may have, but this illustrates a point in and of itself.

And that is not to take reports and articles at face value. Just because somebody says something, that does not mean that it is so.

We have never had PATRIOT in Afghanistan, the Taliban never really had enough air assets to worry about, and none of the types of long-range rockets that they would have been effective against.

They were used in Iraq, for the staging and the invasion itself, but were sent home (or to other places in the ME) after the invasion was completed. Most people remember Jessica Lynch, but most do not know that she was part of 5-52, a PATRIOT unit from Fort Bliss.

From what open sources I have been able to scour, the units sent to Turkey came from Fort Bliss, which means it is 5-52, 2-43, or 3-43. And I know it is not 1-43, because they are already out on deployment at this time.