European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 15, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A a a the stars and stripes saturday september 15,1990marines prove preparation pays off by Gary Miller Mediterranean Bureau Naples Italy a deploying a third of its combat troops to saudi Arabia and conducting operations off Liberia have kept the . Marine corps hopping the services Atlantic Force commander said. It. Gen. Carl e. Mundy jr., commander of Fleet Marine Force Atlantic briefed 80 members of the Naples Marine Security Force co on the services participation in operation desert shield the corps largest deployment since Vietnam. A during the 37 Days of the operation marines have been deploying to the persian Gulf at the rate of about 1,400 a Day a a Mundy said wednesday. So far that amounts to More than 40,000 troops about a third of the 122,000 marines in the operational forces he said. The Speed of the services deployment has been due primarily to supplies aboard repositioned ships a Force commissioned because of another incident in the Gulf Region the Tehran hostage crisis. Each ship contains enough equipment ammunition fuel food and other supplies to maintain a 16,500-Man Marine expeditionary brigade for 30 Days Mundy said. The Marine units linking up with the ships Are mostly from the Pacific and the West coast of the United states. East coast units normally under Mundyk a command from his Headquarters at Norfolk va., have embarked on 14 amphibious ships and Are now in the area of operations he said. More than 200 Marine aircraft have flown to saudi Arabia from the East coast stopping at naval station Rota it i Gnu a is amps Gary Miller it. Gen. Carl e. Mundy jr., commander of Fleet Marine Force Atlantic briefs the Naples Marine Security Force co on the services desert shield involvement. Spain and refuelling from Kc-130 tankers. A it enabled us to transport on the aircraft a lot of the missiles and other things that we would have had to Send on additional lift a he said. A but More importantly for you your Marine aircraft came in ready to fight even before they touched the  summarizing the Marine corps efforts in the Middle East Mundy said a things that we talked about that the Marine corps is Able to do a be expeditionary be responsive be ready be highly trained be prepared to go on Short notice a have just been demonstrated in 37  Mundy who was in Naples to attend a quarterly Flag officers conference also discussed the corps part in evacuating More than 1,600 people from War Tom Liberia. He said two amphibious ships with Marine detachments aboard have been operating off the coast of Liberia and sustaining the . Embassy there for More than 90 Days. A they evacuated from Liberia More than 1,600 americans and foreign nationals who wanted to come out a Mundy said. A they did it flawlessly. They did it with no accidents. They did it without creating an incident or doing anything whatsoever except doing their  moreover the marines Are continuing to participate in previously scheduled deployments in South America and at bases in the Pacific. A your corps is Busy a Mundy said a and its doing the things that marines Are supposed to be doing and it is doing them very  upset by saudis censoring troop mail Chuck Vinch Washington Bureau Washington a saudi arabians Are going through the mail sent to . Service members in the Middle East confiscating pork products bibles and other materials they find offensive. The disclosure prompted angry outbursts on Capitol Hill this week As senators demanded an explanation from defense Secretary Dick Cheney. A Are you saying religious materials sent to saudi Arabia around Christmas will not be Able to get through a asked sen. Carl Levin a Mich. A is that what we can expect of the saudis Quot Cheney clearly hesitant to answer called the situation a a very delicate matter that he is pursuing with Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf commander of . Forces in the persian Gulf. Customs inspectors in the desert kingdom Are checking mail coming through the . Military postal sys tem and removing items that run counter to saudi cultural or religious beliefs. A the defense department is not Banning anything from the mail system a said Pentagon spokesman Glenn flood. A but we Are advising people that they should be sensitive to islamic beliefs and customs and be aware that the saudis Are inspecting mail going to . Troops in their  shipments of packaged Field rations containing pork and canned hams for use in hot meals aboard ships and at some ground locations Are unaffected by the situation according to officials with the defense personnel support Center in Philadelphia. The saudis have no involvement in the . Supply channels for troops in operation desert shield flood said. The Issue flared tuesday on Capitol Hill when Cheney was grilled by lawmakers angry Over what they perceive As lukewarm support from some allies for . Efforts in the Region. Items being confiscated from . Mail by the Sau Dis Are not limited to spam and bags of pork rinds religious material and items considered obscene Are also being held up. In some cases saudi inspectors Are rejecting whole packages and refusing to let them enter the country flood said. A because of saudi cultural and religious beliefs their customs inspectors Are looking at the packages a Cheney told the Senate armed services committee. A those things that Are considered to be offensive such As obscene material Are being removed from the packages or blacked out with magic  even a Bikini Clad woman in a Magazine advertisement which would raise few eyebrows in the United states May violate the cultural mores of the saudis Cheney said. But it was word that the saudis Are confiscating religious material that seemed to upset lawmakers the most. A a there a no reasonable grounds As far As in a concerned for denying religious materials from going in a Levin fumed. A i agree a said sen. Sam Nunn d-ga., committee chairman. A a they re sensitive but we Are also  sending tanks More troops to Gulf area London apr Britain will Send an armoured brigade of More than 120 tanks and about 6,000 combat troops to saudi Arabia British defense Secretary Tom King said Friday the move Marks the first deployment of tanks and significant numbers of ground troops by any Western country apart from the United states since Iraq invaded Kuwait on aug. 2. The armoured brigade will More than double the British military personnel in the persian Gulf and King stressed that the Force May be deployed to end the iraqi occupation of Kuwait. The defense Secretary also announced that Britain would be sending another Squadron of Tornado ground attack aircraft and some additional air defense aircraft. Quot our purpose in sending further forces is twofold first to ensure that no further aggression can possibly succeed and that the defensive shield is sure for saudi Arabia and the threatened Gulf states a he said. The defense Secretary said that a while we seek the implementation of the United nations resolutions by peaceful Means other options remain available and that one Way or another he Saddam Hussein will lose. A a Iraq a evil aggression must be reversed and my announcement today confirms our determination to play our full part in the worldwide Effort to achieve this a King said. The 7th army brigade based in West Germany includes two armoured regiments with 120 challenger tanks an armoured infantry battalion with Warrior armoured fighting vehicles a Squadron of scimitar armed reconnaissance vehicles an artillery regiment and air defense Battery with javelin anti aircraft missiles King said. Army units involved Are the Royal scots Dragoon guards Queens Royal Irish Hussars Staffordshire regt 40 Field regt Royal arty and Squadron of Queens Dragoon guards. Defense officials indicated it would take about a month for the armoured forces to reach saudi Arabia. The announcement came after prime minister Margaret Thatcher met with senior Cabinet ministers at her no. 10 Downing Street office for a final decision on the British response to . Requests for nato countries to Send ground troops. The brigade will also deploy chieftain tanks each with a Crew of four and weighing nearly 140,000 pounds and is Likely to include several Light reconnaissance scorpion tanks and dozens of mechanized combat vehicles. The British tanks military analysts say will need a logistics Chain separate from the american m1a1 Abrams tanks in saudi Arabia As part of americans desert shield operation. The shells and spare parts for the Abrams and the challenger Are different. Britain now has three squadrons of warplanes 12 naval vessels and ground support units involving some 3,000 Mili tar personnel in the Gulf. The government gave no immediate indication of the Cost of transporting and maintaining the brigade in Gulf Region. It says the current air and naval forces Cost $141 million to deploy and Are costing nearly $2 million a Day to keep there