INCIRLIK AIR BASE, TURKEY (AP)- The Pentagon says it will send Patriot air defense missiles and 400 troops to Turkey as part of a NATO force meant to protect Turkish territory from potential Syrian missile attack.

Pentagon press secretary George Little said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta signed a deployment order Friday en route to Turkey from Afghanistan.

The order calls for 400 U.S. soldiers to operate two batteries of Patriots at undisclosed locations in Turkey