The biggest conundrum, most military planners in Kuwait agree, is the endgame, and whether it will involve a protracted fight through the streets of Baghdad. "The closer you get to Baghdad and the Special Republican Guard, the tougher the question of will," one officer said, referring to Hussein's most loyal troops, a few thousand elite soldiers believed to be in the capital. "That's the million-dollar question: whether they'll have the will."

Another senior officer added, "We have no intention of going door-to-door and house-to-house in a city of 5 million. It's unbelievably complex, with underground tunnels and bunkers everywhere. . . . If things go bad in a MOUT [military operations in urban terrain] environment, they go bad quickly."

Troops here have planned extensively for urban fighting even as they hope to avoid it. Some of the $ 30 million in supplementary special equipment purchased since December by the 101st, for example, has urban implications, if not the hint of a medieval siege: 162 battering rams, 486 grappling hooks, 81 folding assault ladders and 81 battle axes.

Berlin is now considered "good duty" for the 7,000 Americans in the military contingent. There is good housing for those with families who serve a three-year tour. The tour for single or unaccompanied enlisted men has been reduced recently from two years to 18 months, helping their morale. Because the operating costs of the Berlin garrison are paid by the West German government (since the city is still formally "occupied territory"), the post has avoided some of the stringencies imposed by recent Pentagon budget squeezes.

The mission remains part symbol, part substance. The troops train constantly in MOUT — military operations in urban territory, practicing house-to-house fighting in mock-up buildings. But with 22 enemy divisions encircling them, the U.S. British and French contingents are primarily a tripwire force.