DoD Announces Iraq Deployments of Additional Major Units

The DoD says this reflects the continued commitment of the United States to the security of the Iraqi people and provides replacement forces required to maintain the current level of effort in Iraq.

09/15/2008 - U.S. Army Spc. Matthew Petterson provides medical care for an Iraqi child in Baghdad, Iraq, Sept. 15, 2008. Petterson is from 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. (DoD photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Joan E. Kretschmer, U.S. Navy/Released)

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - The Department of Defense announced today additional major units scheduled to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The announcement involves one corps headquarters, one division headquarters, one Marine expeditionary force headquarters and seven brigade combat teams consisting of approximately 26,000 people. The deployment window for these units will begin in the winter and continue into Summer 2009.

Specific units receiving deployment orders include:

Headquarters units: I Corps Headquarters, Ft. Lewis, Wash.
1st Cavalry Division Headquarters, Ft. Hood, Texas
II Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Brigade combat teams:
4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Ft. Bliss, Texas
4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg, N.C.
5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Ft. Lewis, Wash.
1st Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg, N.C.
3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Ft. Lewis, Wash.
4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Ft. Riley, Kan.

Security force brigade: 115th Fires Brigade, Cheyenne, Wyo.

The deployed headquarters units will provide command and control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities in support of security operations in the country.

Six brigade combat teams will replace formations currently on the ground in Iraq. Those units will assume responsibility for a battlespace where they will conduct the full spectrum of operations.

The one security force brigade will be assigned tasks which will assure freedom of movement and continuity of operations in the country. Those tasks will include base defense and route security. Subsequent deployment orders will be issued based on force level decisions made in the future.

Source: U.S. Department of Defense