A SURPRISINGLY FRANK discussion here about the tension in the ranks of the 3d ID. Important to us because if the 3d ID convinces V Corps it is too broken to go to the hot spots, guess who may go then...

Senior leaders and logistics experts in the 3rd Infantry say most of the division is not ready for combat. They complain that they have received almost no spare parts to repair damaged tanks and armored personnel carriers _ what the military calls Class IX supplies _ since they left Kuwait on March 22.

"He is going to get U.S. soldiers needlessly killed if he expects us to go into battle," a senior noncommissioned officer in the 3rd Infantry said of McKiernan. He spoke on condition he not be named for fear of retribution.

The 3rd Infantry's supply line was a constant problem during initial fighting for control of Iraq. After the fall of Baghdad, senior officers determined the division would be leaving within weeks _ and its vehicles would be taken out of service _ so they never filled orders for parts.

One battalion's operations officer said he has more than 2,600 parts on order and that all the tanks in his unit require extensive repairs. A commander said his Bradley Fighting Vehicles all had two-page lists of parts that were ordered but never delivered.

"None of my Bradleys are fully mission capable," said Capt. Chris Carter, an infantry company commander.

Maintenance personnel report that the treads that propel tanks forward are worn, and the vehicles' suspensions are badly damaged. That means the tanks could be easily immobilized in battle and could not move well under fire.

One brigade-level officer wrote a four-page letter to the division commander detailing why his unit was not ready for combat operations, a senior officer said on condition of anonymity.

Asked about spare parts for the division, McKiernan insisted there were plenty of supplies available.

"I wouldn't say they are lacking repair parts. I would say a lot of them were shot up during the campaign, a lot of them have had to have maintenance performed on them," he said. "Those soldiers, if they are asked to go and occupy another piece of ground in Iraq and conduct combat operations, they will be all over it."

Officers in the division said they will follow any orders, but all expressed concern about the possible cost.