Call-up of guard, reservists continues

WASHINGTON -- More than 20,000 National Guard and reserve forces reported for active duty this week as the Pentagon continued its buildup for a possible war with Iraq.

It was the biggest one-week jump in mobilizations for overseas or domestic duty since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that more reserves will be called but that the number would not rise dramatically unless President Bush decides to go to war to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Under an order signed by Bush three days after the 2001 terrorist attacks, up to 1 million guard and reserve forces can be called to serve for up to two years. But Myers said that if war is averted the mobilization total would not exceed 100,000.

He said that that if Bush chooses to use military force in Iraq "then the reserve numbers would be potentially quite high."

He would not give a specific figure but said press reports of 250,000 are "way off base."

In its weekly report on mobilizations, the Defense Department said that the Army, Navy and Marine Corps each announced an increase of reservists on active duty over the past week, while the Air Force had a slight drop.

The total on active duty, which can go up or down from week to week, now stands at 78,906, said Lt. Col. Dan Stoneking, a Pentagon spokesman.

"The president and secretary of defense have stated already how vital the guard and reserve are to our military's success and national security," Stoneking said. "These mobilizations are testament to the guard and reserves' outstanding service."

Stoneking said that in the two weeks after Sept. 11 terror attacks over 20,000 National Guard and reserve troops were activated as troops were sent to guard airports, fly combat patrols over the United States and do other security duty. Since then, about 144,000 have served at home and overseas, some finishing their duty and going back to civilian life.

There are now more than 49,000 Army National Guard and Army Reserve on duty, an increase of some 15,000 over the previous week, he said.

The Marine Corps said more than 4,500 of its reserves reported for duty during the week, its largest weekly jump since the last Persian Gulf war in 1991. They joined more than 3,600 Marines already mobilized for a total of more than 8,100, the corps said in a statement Wednesday.

The Naval Reserve reported an increase of only a dozen to 5,254; the Coast Guard increased 140 to 833; and the Air National Guard Air Force Reserve fell a few dozen to 14,972.

The statement didn't specify where units had been sent, though a substantial portion are part of the buildup for a possible war in Iraq and others are assigned to homeland defense jobs.

More than 60,000 troops are already in the Gulf region, to be joined by about 120,000 more over the next few weeks. The buildup is expected to be complete before the end of February, though President Bush says he still hasn't decided whether he will wage a war to force Iraqi President Saddam Hussein to give up the weapons of mass destruction Saddam denies having.