NATIONAL
Pentagon rushes supplies to gulf
WASHINGTON (AP) - In its
rush to move critical ammuni
tion and supplies to I! S
troops in the Persian Gulf, the
Pentagon is at times bypass
ing procurement rules and
making multimillion-dollar
deals on a handshake.
With war possible any time
after the l!.N -authorized
deadline of midnight Tues
day. the Army is scrambling
to ship 30-day supplies of
fuel, lubricants and equip
ment parts to Saudi Arabia for
newly arrived heavy ground
forces The kits are loaded
with tank and other parts ex
pected to wear quickly In
cnmtrat and are modeled after
packages created last fall for
the first armored divisions to
reach Saudi Arabia.
"I'll have that in the air
within a week." Maj. Gen.
Charles M. Murray, the
Army's deputy i hief of staff
for supply, maintenance and
transportation, said in an in
terview Friday Although
those shipments won't arrive
by the deadline. Murray said
"We can go to war on the
15th and we can sustain that
war and we can keep the
pipeline going, Ixith by sur
face and air. that will allow us
to sustain a war for however
long it takes."
More than $1 billion has
lx*en spent on food, clothing
and medical supplies for Op
eration Desert Shield It is dif
ficult. however, to put an ex
act figure on ammunition,
parts and other hardware, al
though it is at least in the
hundreds of millions of dol
lars.
Most recent contracts aren't
specifically earmarked for the
Persian < in I f deployment
Katlier. they will refill stocks
emptied to supply the Mid
east fort e, which is approach
ing -iOO.(MH) troops
Many existing contracts
have an option that allows the*
Pentagon to order ecpiipmeut
as needed at a previously set
price
Murray and other Pentagon
officials said Ihe Army, as
well as other services, has
made "handshake" deals
with some suppliers, deciding
to violate contracting proce
dures and probably federal
law because of emergency
needs of the gulf forces.
The number and value of
these deals won't lx* known
until the agreements are for
malized
For example, the Army is
buying hundreds of powerful
engines needed for heavy
equipment haulers from Huger
I’enske, the former race car
driver who owns an automo
tive business. No formal c on
tract exists
"i’enske immediately shut
off all civilian buyers for the
head engine and turned his
entire production line over to
us. several hundred engines
very quickly,” Murray said
A senior Pentagon official
involved in procurement said
he was aware the Army and
other services had violated
contracting procedures on
several occasions since the
deployment began in August.
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Kuwaitis join U.S. army,
leave for the Middle East
TORT l)IX. N.J. (AP) - Ku
waiti soldiers ended a crash
course in U.S. Army training
Sunday by firing their M-16 ri
fles at plastic targets supposed
to represent Iraqi invaders.
The 291 Kuwaitis recruited
as part of Task Force Desert
Owl were scheduled to leave
Monday for Saudi Arabia,
where they will be attached to
U.S. military units.
' They’re starting to act like
U.S. soldiers now.” said Lt.
Col William Knightly, battal
ion commander. "They’ve
come a long way in a very short
time.”
The Kuwaitis arrived at this
training Iwse a week ago for the
most basic of basic training.
The normal eight-week course
was condensed to eight days,
and the recruits have learned
little more than how to wear
chemical suits and take orders,
military style.
Sunday was their first chance
to fire live ammunition.
Woodland green camouflage
uniforms, cloth-covered army
helmets and M-ltis belied the
non military backgrounds of
the recruits from the oil-rich
emirate.
Most are students studying at
U.S. colleges. The others are
businessmen or tourists who
happened to be in the United
States when Iraq invaded Ku
wait in early August.
Driving into the firing range
area, the soldiers passed a plas
tic dummy of a mustachioed
soldier in a green uniform, who
looked suspiciously like Sad
dam Hussein. A sign below his
nock read, “One shot, one
kill.”
For many recruits, one shot
is all they want
“A lot of people think we are
afraid to fight, but we have just
never had the chance to go.”
said Hader. a 36-year-old Ku
waiti student who was study
ing political communications at
Syracuse University. The Army
requested their last names not
be used out of consideration for
family members still in Kuwait.
"We are not afraid of Sad
dam Hussein; he will be
stopped.” Hader said. “Stop
ping Saddam now will stop all
the future Saddams."
Most of the Kuwaiti soldiers
being trained here, however,
will not face combat. The sol
diers will serve as linguists and
translators for America forces,
officials said.
Retired Staff Sgt. Nick
Katona seemed surprised that
the Kuwaitis hit any of the
plastic-soldier targets.
“For first time exposure,
they’re doing damn good,"
Katona said. “Overall. I'd say
they're shooting it up real
good.''
The Kuwaiti recruits had
more to deal with Sunday than
their inexperience with fire
arms.
Below-freezing temperatures
forced the soldiers to weai
coats and gloves as they fired at
targets dispersed through a
mock desert.
"Gas! Gas! Gas!" one of their
superiors shouted over a loud
speaker.
At once they whipped oil
their helmets, pulled on gas
masks and then replaced the
helmets.
"We're getting used to the
military life, but I do not know
about this weather," said Ali,
25. a mechanical engineering
student at Bradley University
in Peoria, 111.
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