5:20 PM 9/22/01 Army's Secret Soldiers Disappearing From Town Near Fort Bragg Southern Pines, N.C. (AP) -- People in this town that is home to many of the Army's secretive Special Forces soldiers are noticing that more and more of them are disappearing.

The Special Forces troops are being called to duty in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The soldiers have been trained in reconnaissance, anti-terrorism and small-unit combat, often making them the first called to hot spots around the world.

Their missions are so secret they are forbidden to tell even loved ones where they're going or what their mission will be.

Unlike the bulk of Fort Bragg's 42,000 soldiers, most of whom live in Fayetteville or Spring Lake, highly educated Special Forces soldiers keep a low profile and mix into their community.

"Many people who live out here are professionals, professional soldiers," said Sgt. 1st Class Randy Rhodes, an instructor at Fort Bragg's school for survival, evasion, resistance and escape methods. "The military community here is a lot tighter with the civilian population than in Fayetteville."

The Army's Special Forces Command at Fort Bragg -- which oversees Rangers, Delta Force and Special Forces soldiers -- said Thursday it has received a deployment order. It has not said how many soldiers or which types of units are being moved as the U.S. builds its war-fighting capabilities against terrorist responsible for the attacks.

There are secrets the American public might never learn about the coming conflict, said Maj. Gary Kolb, a spokesman for the command. That includes discussing the capabilities and missions of special operations soldiers, he said.

"What we don't want to do is put soldiers in harm's way unnecessarily," Korb said.

From an Associated Press report provided by nbc6.com. Copyright © 2001 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

http://www.nbc6.com/news/story.cfm?story_pk=831718&image=local_news

-- Old mother (hubbard@herCupboard.com), September 23, 2001