This from the AP via the San Diego Union Tribune: Strained by wars, Pentagon proposes to increase size of Army and Marine Corps

Maj. Randy Taylor, a spokesman for the 3rd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment, at Fort Bliss, Texas, said the Patriot unit was aware of the announced deployment but he said no formal order had been received Thursday. He said a Patriot battalion normally has 500 to 600 soldiers assigned to it. The last time the unit was deployed to the Gulf was from August 2002 to May 2003 with missions in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Iraq, Taylor said.

The dispatching of a Patriot missile battery, capable of defending against shorter-range ballistic missile attacks, appeared linked to Bush’s announcement Wednesday that he ordered an aircraft carrier strike group to the Middle East, which would be in easy reach of Iran, whose nuclear program is a U.S. concern.

Navy officials said the carrier heading to the Gulf region is the USS John C. Stennis, which previously had been in line to deploy to the Pacific…

Various Texas news reports are stating that the troops assigned to Fort Bliss regiment were shocked and surprised by the deployment. Not as shocked as they will be when they’re firing the Patriots 24/7 because of incoming.

Also, Lockheed Martin gets new contract

Lockheed Martin will take on yet another multi-million dollar project for the U.S. Army.

The Army awarded a contract modification worth nearly $377 million to Lockheed. The company will use the money to upgrade the Patriot PAC-3, which is a surface-to-air missle used by the Army.

The work will be done at facilities in 6 different states.

It will probably take around 4-6 weeks to get the resources in place. Me thinks we’re getting ready for the big one.