The US Navy and Army plan to alert about 27,000 National Guard and Reserve troops to prepare for a possible call to active duty, probably in the Persian Gulf region, defense officials said.
The decision to alert some reservists is a sign that the Pentagon is continuing to lay the groundwork for a military operation against Iraq, should US President George W. Bush decide military force is necessary.
Virtually no military operation can be undertaken without the extensive use of the National Guard and Reserves because, by design, the active duty force is lacking in skills such as civil affairs and medical specialties.
If the US should go to war against Iraq, the Pentagon probably would need to mobilize more than 100,000 National Guard and Reserve troops, not counting almost 51,000 already on active duty largely for homeland defense duties such as flying combat patrol missions over areas of the US.
Navy Lieutenant Commander Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said on Saturday he could not confirm any alert order and stressed that notifying reservists to prepare for mobilization is a step short of actually calling them to duty.
Another defense official said, however, that the Navy and Army were told to give alert orders to about 27,000 members of the National Guard and Reserve. The New York Times, which reported the development in its Saturday editions, said that if Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld eventually approves a formal mobilization order, he probably would not do so before Jan. 1.
The Times reported that the naval reservists who are to be alerted in coming days include stevedores, port handlers, coastal patrol crews and medical personnel. Army Reserve personnel would include military police, engineers and logistics specialists.
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