April 5th, 1999

Perhaps I'm an alarmist.

But I'm preparing for something which I believe is not only likely, but probably already started: the Deployment of the 101st Airborne to Europe.

"What forces would NATO need to conduct a ground war and from where would they come? The heart of any force intended to fight its way into Kosovo would be from the U.S. 18th Airborne Corps. This unit, based in the continental United States, consists of 100,000 soldiers in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airmobile Division, the 3rd Infantry Division — formerly the 24th Mechanized Division of Gulf War fame — and the 10th Mountain Division, plus corps support forces.
       The 18th Corps would be particularly suited to the Kosovo environment. The ready brigade of the 82nd could be deployed to the Yugoslav theater within a few days. The 101st, heavily equipped with attack and transport helicopters, and supplemented by the 18th Corps aviation brigade would be ideal for the mountainous terrain of southern Kosovo as would be the 10th Mountain Division" -MSNBC NEWS.

You see, its not just the soldiers who leave; its quite a few of their spouses as well; quite a few spouses will go to where they have family, away from Clarksville.

Probably the greatest impact locally however will be that those paychecks leave. As you get closer to Fort Campbell, you get more and more business's whose primary - and sometimes only - form of income is sales to soldiers; I think it likely that the business's North of the 101st airborne expressway would have trouble surviving the minimum of 6 months which a mobilization would last.

We now have a few hundred more missing paychecks.

The effects would be pretty far reaching throughout the region; less cars would be sold. Real Estate prices will drop as less housing is sold & more affordable rental units become available. a VERY hefty portion of Clarksville's recently exploding service industry would be in serious trouble. Attendance at area schools would drop.

Like I said, maybe I'm an alarmist. But I find the potential problems Clarksville faces pretty alarming.

Care to comment? you can voice your opinion in the Clarksville News Bulletin Board