The USS Guam Amphibious Readiness Group with another 3,000 Marines is steaming toward the gulf. Another 3,000 soldiers are on alert at Fort Stewart, Ga., and will soon deploy to Camp Doha, Kuwait, to draw pre-positioned armor. They'll join 600 soldiers already there for exercise Intrinsic Action. We're very focused. We're very ready.
Morale here is very high.
It has been a marvelous revolution in how we stay connected with our families. The George Washington carries 50 fighter aircraft. The USS Independence, the second U.S. carrier deployed in the gulf, carries another 50. The British carrier HMS Invincible sails with her U.S. counterparts and carries about 14 GR-1 Tornado ground attack planes. Since November, U.S. naval pilots have been flying 80 to 120 sorties a day over Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch.