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THf ’STARS AND STRIPES; WASHINGTON (UPI) - The! decision to airlift 1C ,000 troops ,. to Vietnam from Ft. Campbell, « ’ Ky., represents a speedup in ^ i original plans for their deploy- J . ment to the combat zone, it was : . learned Thursday. iI Though costly, the airlift is ad- , i I vancing by at least a month thedate when the 15,000-man 101st , Airborne Division can be re- : I united and fully combat ready in Vietnam. A formal announce- , _ ment to this effect is expected [ when the airlift is completed, I [ One brigade of the 101st has 1 [been in Vietnam since July 1905. Giant C141 transports began the ; r I airlift of the rest of the division I Dec. 1. The operation Is sched-uled to be completed within the week.L 373 Flights-1 With. 373 flights and approxi-| mately 22,000 flying hours involved, the cost of the airlift was e estimated at $17.5 million or !. $1,750 per man if the planes re-- turned to the United States t empty.v The airlift was planned before Gen. William Westmoreland’s re-.- cent visit to Washington, but Pen-i tagon sources said this was the j , kind of speedup action he had in t mind when he said he would like * s to have the rest of his troops as m soon as possible, t U.S. troop strength in Vietnam e is now approaching 480,000 and is scheduled to reach 525,000 not later than next June 30. West-li moreland indicated that he would a like to reach the full authorized * strength in early 1968 rather than t by midyear.
Newspaper Details
European Stars and Stripes
Darmstadt, Hesse, DE
Sat, Dec 09, 1967
Page 22
Full Page
Clipped by
Theresa S.
USA 23 Jan 2023
Other Publications Near Darmstadt, Hesse
Allgemeine Kirchen Zeitung
European Stars and Stripes
