Pentagon calls up 635 more reservists

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon called up more than 600 additional military reservists Wednesday for the campaign against terrorism. Those tapped included Seabees and other Naval reservists as well as security forces with an Air Force Special Operations unit in Florida.

The latest request for 635 reservists brought to about 15,600 the number called to active duty, the Pentagon said.

Included were Naval Inshore Boat Unit 11 from Everett, Wash., and Inshore Boat Unit 17 from San Diego, Calif.; Naval Construction Battalion 5 from Fort Worth, Texas, and Construction Battalion 133 from Gulfport, Miss., the announcement said.

The call-up also included 66 members of the Air Force's 919 Special Operations Wing Security Forces from Niceville, Fla.

They join Reserve and National Guard members called under a partial mobilization order President Bush signed after the Sept. 11 attacks in New York and Washington. Bush authorized the Pentagon to call as many as 50,000 to active duty.

Administration officials have said that U.S. special operations forces were expected to play a role, albeit a secret one, in the expected operations against terrorists who carried out the attacks. The term refers to clandestine fighters who operate behind enemy lines in roles that include targeting, sabotage, even attack missions.

The Pentagon also announced that military bases have been allowed to prohibit civilian blood drives. The move is meant to safeguard the military's blood programs, said Dr. J. Jarrett Clinton, a top Pentagon health official.

In Islamabad, U.S. and Pakistani officials ended two days of talks in "complete unanimity" on military preparations for combating Osama bin Laden's terrorist network in Afghanistan, a Pakistani general said.

Details of the agreement were not announced, but Gen. Rashid Qureshi, spokesman for Pakistan's president, Pervez Musharraf, said there was "no difference of opinion between Pakistan and America on the issue of combating terrorism." Pakistan, however, opposes any U.S. or other effort to bolster the northern alliance of opposition Afghan groups, which has been fighting the ruling Taliban that harbors bin Laden.

Pakistani officials said both sides had agreed to minimize the use of ground forces in any strike in Afghanistan.

Two U.S. government officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Pakistan's report of a broad accord with the U.S. military was essentially correct. They would not elaborate.

The U.S. delegation was led by Air Force Brig. Gen. Kevin Chilton, director of strategic planning for the Near East and South Asia for the Joint Staff.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld met Wednesday with congressional leaders on how to pay for the new war on terror.

"We must recognize that right here at home we are confronted with adversaries," Sen. John Warner of Virginia, top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said after the session at the Pentagon.

Rumsfeld invited Capitol Hill leaders who control military programs and spending to the Pentagon to preview a major report due Congress by the end of this month on the military's force structure and strategies.

Warner said the report provided some much-needed groundwork for realigning the Pentagon's priorities in the aftermath of the attacks.

"The members felt that this was a very good job, a step in recognizing the changed threat and particularly ... the emphasis ... put on the subject of homeland defense," Warner said.

The study, known as the "Quadrennial Defense Review," is mandated by Congress and must be submitted by Oct. 1.

Warner, a former Secretary of the Navy, said the review calls for retaining the Navy's current force of 12 carrier battle groups but refused to offer other details.

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Joint Chiefs strategic plans site: http://www.dtic.mil/jcs/