For years the US has maintained a large military presence in the Middle East. At the moment, the US Fifth Fleet is deployed in the Gulf, comprising 14 ships and more than 8,000 sailors and marines. At its head is the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier. It is supported by five missile carrying cruisers or destroyers, an attack submarine and other ships. The even larger US Seventh Fleet, comprising 42 ships and 25,000 sailors and marines is also in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, led by the USS Carl Vinson. It is supported by a huge range of ships including a dozen missile carrying vessels, seven attack submarines and amphibious assault vessels. But the US also has air and land forces stationed in the region. The US has a large presence at the Incirlik air force base in Turkey and has other aircraft stationed at two locations in Saudi Arabia and some thousands of troops at Al Jaber in Kuwait. While these forces guarantee that air or missile attack against the Taleban or Osama Bin Laden is achievable, they do not provide the answer to how a ground attack would be accomplished.