4,000 from 4th SBCT to deploy to Iraq

Soldiers from the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, will replace another SBCT scheduled to come home in the fall. Another unit originally was selected, but that brigade has been chosen to serve in Afghanistan.


4,000 from 4th SBCT to deploy to Iraq
By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Mar 2, 2009 14:50:33 EST

About 4,000 soldiers from 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, of Fort Lewis, Wash., will deploy to Iraq in the fall, the Defense Department announced Monday.

The brigade, which returned in July from a 15-month tour in Iraq, will deploy to replace a unit that is already operating in Iraq, likely 1st SBCT, 25th Infantry Division, which is scheduled to come home from Iraq in September.

Another SBCT, the 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, also of Fort Lewis, originally was tapped for a deployment to Iraq. But officials announced Feb. 17 that the 5th SBCT will instead deploy to Afghanistan, making it the first Stryker brigade to serve in that country.

In addition to the announcement about the 4th SBCT, the Defense Department also announced Monday that about 4,700 other soldiers will deploy to Afghanistan as part of the regular rotation of forces.

Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division headquarters, of Fort Bragg, N.C., and 4th BCT, 4th Infantry Division, of Fort Carson, Colo., will deploy in late spring to support the International Security Assistance Force.


Rest of article at: http://armytimes.com/news/2009/03/army_stryker_030209w/%2e