British, U.S. Troops Head to Persian Gulf
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Britain has begun the country's biggest naval deployment since the 1982 Falklands's war. A warship, the HMS Arc Royal has started its journey toward the Persian Gulf, the first of more than a dozen British ships that will be deployed to the region. CNN's Matthew Chance reports.</s>MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Britain's biggest warship, the Arc Royal, will lead the task force. This aircraft carrier has awesome fire power and 15 other vessels in support. The ships with 3,000 marines onboard could join U.S. forces in the Gulf in weeks. There's been no order but the message is clear. The decks of this aircraft carrier have been cleared of fixed wing jets. Forty attack helicopters will be deployed instead and with three landing vessels also in tow, officers acknowledge the emphasis is being placed on amphibious troop landing. There's a camouflage on the Land Rovers, hint of a final destination.</s>LT. COL. BEN CURRY, ROYAL MARINES: An amphibious capability provides a great deal of flexibility. Flexibility is central to what we do. We can sit onboard ship and provide a politician with a credible threat of force.</s>CHANCE: Average age of the 1,000 crewmembers here is just 24. So, with the possibility of sailing into war looming, how does the youngest feel at just 18?</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll probably start getting a bit nervous</s>CHANCE: And for the moment it is the basics of daily life on ship that are the focus. Being loaded here 144,000 bars of chocolate, 36,000 cans of beer, a million cigarettes. (on camera): Military officials say this is the biggest naval task force to be assembled by Britain for 20 years and is meant as a credible threat to Iraq. And while officials in Washington and London continue to insist no decision to go to war has been taken, the deployment of this British force could be a significant step. Matthew Chance CNN, with HMS Arc Royal in Portsmouth.</s>COOPER: Continuing on this story, as Americans head for the Gulf, it is of course leading to a lot of strong emotions. Steve Kearns of CNN affiliate WVEC is in Norfolk, Virginia where several ships are heading to war in the Persian Gulf. Steve, what's the scene there?</s>STEVE KEARNS, WVEC CORRESPONDENT: Anderson, today we've had four ships leave various Hampton Roads ports. Today here at Naval Station Norfolk we have two specifically that left here. They are the USS Kearsarge and the USS Baton. Behind us, Gate 5 at the base, in the past few days we've seen thousands of sailors and marines going in but we haven't seen too many coming out, and what we're not being told is exactly where they're going or when they're coming back. The first to leave this morning was the multipurpose amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge, LHD 3. Tearful family members said their final goodbyes on pier before seeing their loved ones ship out for an indefinite amount of time. Hours later, around 4:00 p.m., the amphibious assault ship USS Baton, LHD 5 shipped out as well. In both cases the crews, comprised mostly of sailors and marines, didn't get much notice of this deployment, and with the possibility looming of a strike on Iraq, well saying goodbye has never been more difficult. At this point, only a handful of ships still left out on the pier here at Naval Station Norfolk. We can tell you that in coming weeks it's anyone's guess as to whether or not they will be staying here as well. Of course we'll all be staying and watching very closely. We're live here at Naval Station Norfolk, Steve Kearns,</s>CNN. ANDERSON: Steve, obviously this is a military community used to this kind of thing. What are people's moods, their reaction there to this latest deployment?</s>KEARNS: Like anyone else, they're watching the television broadcasts. They're seeing what's going on. They know something is happening. No one is exactly sure what but they all have a pretty good idea that these ships are going to a certain part of the world. Exactly what their role in the war on terror will be, we'll just have to wait and see. But I think a lot of people here are kind of used to this. They're used to having to get together sometimes at the last minute and going out to sea. In this case, it is very much last minute for many of these ships and their crews.</s>COOPER: And it's so remarkable when you think that they are gone often for six months at a time, just the burden on the family is just extraordinary. Steve Kearns, appreciate it, thanks very much tonight. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com