The September 11th attack
Hawai'i forces expect secondary role in U.S. offensive
By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer
As was the case in the Gulf War, Pacific military forces will play a secondary role in potential strikes on Afghanistan, but the exact nature of that role and the conflict ahead has left uncertainty for Hawai'i-based troops and their families.
The brunt of operations against Saudi exile Osama bin Laden would be carried out in Afghanistan by about 30,000 U.S. military personnel already in place to enforce the Northern and Southern Watch no-fly zones in Iraq, defense analysts have said.
The troops are under the control of the U.S. Central Command and Army Gen. Tommy Franks, who is in charge of military operations in South Central Asia and the Middle East.
"It's clear the primary effort will not come from Hawai'i-based forces, but individual ships could be part of the broader task force," said Ralph Cossa, a retired Air Force officer who was on the command staffs of two Pacific commanders in the 1980s and 1990s. "Certainly, the people up at CINCPAC will be burning the midnight oil to see how they can provide logistical support and combat service support."
Navy Adm. Dennis C. Blair, who commands 300,000 military personnel in a region encompassing 43 countries over half the globe, has authority as far west as India, but Pakistan and Afghanistan fall under Franks' command.
Cossa, president of the Pacific Forum Center for Strategic and International Studies in Honolulu, a foreign policy research institute, also said it would be "foolish to rule out anything."
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld warned against notions of conventional warfare, saying, "The terrorists who are attacking our way of life do not have armies, navies or air forces. They do not have capitals. They do not have high-value targets that the typical weapons of war can go in and attack."
"It does little for B1 bombers to fly 30 missions over the mountains of Afghanistan when all they can do is move around rocks and dirt," said retired Rear Adm. Stephen Baker, a senior fellow at the Center for Defense Information in Washington, D.C.
Defense analysts say an attack on bin Laden forces in Afghanistan and Taliban strongholds is likely to rely on a combination of special forces and air attacks. Traditional ground forces have not been ruled out, though.
In the Gulf War in 1991, even though the Pacific Command again played a support role, Hawai'i-based forces eventually included nearly 7,500 Kane'ohe Marines, helicopters and F-18 fighter squadrons; 500 soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division (Light) and Army reservists; 50 Hickam Air Force Base security police officers; and five Pearl Harbor-based ships.
For some in the service in Hawai'i, there is concern over both the region where fighting may take place and what's to come after the "sustained" strikes the government is promising are over.
"There is a huge sense this is a big deal," said Rob Baumgarten, a third class petty officer part of the USS Arizona Memorial Navy detachment. "I think the main concern is we may end up there longer than we think."
Baumgarten said newer sailors are worried about the strikes that seem certain to come against bin Laden, but he is not.
"I was in the Gulf in '96 when we launched counter attacks against Saddam Hussein (as part of Operation Southern Watch)," Baumgarten, 25, said. "For those of us who have been around, we know what we have to do."
Baumgarten said he's concerned he may have to leave his wife and unborn child, who is due Dec. 19, "but that's why I signed up — to support and defend."
Even if Hawai'i-based forces do not play a primary role in the strikes, others in the Pacific will, analysts say.
The USS Carl Vinson, one of two aircraft carrier battle groups in the Persian Gulf, is based out of Bremerton, Wash., and is under Blair's wide-ranging command.
The USS Cowpens, a Ticonderoga-class cruiser and cruise missile platform with the Navy's 7th Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan, was under way Saturday, and presumably heading for the Middle East, Baker said. The 7th Fleet includes 40 to 50 ships, 200 aircraft and 20,000 Navy and Marine Corps personnel.
The USS Peleliu, with the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit and Amphibious Squadron 1, was off East Timor, Baker said. The Peleliu has six Harrier jets and Cobra helicopter gunships.
Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.
