Drum troops focusing on Iraq

FORT DRUM — The guessing game is over for soldiers with the 1st and 2nd Brigade Combat Teams, who now can prepare for very specific missions in Iraq.

For now.

The 2nd Brigade is headed to eastern Baghdad in October. It is not known where the 1st Brigade will be stationed yet, but those soldiers will deploy in January. Both deployments are expected to be for 12 months.

But change is an Army way of life, and one or both BCTs could be diverted to Afghanistan. Four months before the 3rd Brigade Combat Team deployed in December, the soldiers were told to pack their bags for Afghanistan instead of Iraq.

"We saw it happen with 3rd Brigade," said Col. Willard M. "Bill" Burleson III, the 1st Brigade commander. "So based on the necessity, it's a possibility. And that is why training on the fundamentals is the most important."

The uncertainty is linked to the announced plan to withdraw most U.S. combat forces from Iraq in August 2010 — which will be eight months into the 1st Brigade deployment and 10 months into the 2nd Brigade deployment.

The deployment orders became official Tuesday when the Department of Defense announced that the 1st and 2nd Brigade would deploy to Iraq as part of a normal rotation. The 7,000 Fort Drum soldiers will deploy with a group of 30,000 and will replace units on the ground already.

"We are planning for a 12-month deployment," said Col. David M. Miller, the 2nd Brigade commander. "You don't even talk about doing something less than that because if you do come home, it's great. But the expectation is not a healthy thing. The drawdown is a very dynamic thing, and it's very condition based."

Both brigades, which have deployed steadily since the Afghanistan conflict started in 2001, are being sent to Iraq at a time when the Obama administration is considering sending more troops to Afghanistan to help quell an escalating Taliban threat.

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates said Thursday during a visit to Fort Drum there are 68,000 soldiers scheduled to arrive there by the end of the year. But additional troops could be requested following Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal's 60-day strategy analysis, which he will complete this week.

Col. Miller said it's possible Fort Drum soldiers could be diverted to Afghanistan mid-deployment. But that depends on how well the Iraqi security forces can provide and sustain security on their own. He said the job of the 1st and 2nd Brigades is to make sure the Iraqis "can ride the bike without the training wheels."

"We hope we would be able to bring you home, because there is a different kind of training for Iraq and Afghanistan," said Mr. Gates during a town hall-style meeting Thursday afternoon. "But there may be some specific specialties that would transfer over from Iraq, but the large units, I expect them to come back."

Col. Burleson said for now, he would make sure his soldiers concentrate on the Iraq mission.

"We have focused on doing everything by, with and through the Iraqi security forces, so as American forces transfer out of the country they are able to stay on without our assistance," Col. Burleson said. "Our training to date has focused on core tasks that whether we went to Afghanistan or Iraq you need to be proficient in. Now we stay the course, because we have confirmed what we thought."

The soldiers with 1st and 2nd Brigade have spent considerable time on those core tasks. The 1st Brigade returned from 15 months in northern Iraq in November. The brigade will go to the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La., in August for its deployment rehearsal.

The 2nd Brigade is rotating through that center, training with Iraqi role-players and improving skills needed for the deployment. The 2nd Brigade returned from southern Iraq after 15 months in November 2007.

"We are ready, the brigade is trained and prepared for the mission and we could go today if we were asked," Col. Miller said. "The feedback I'm getting from the evaluators here at the center is that they are really impressed in the performance of the leaders and soldiers. But they are also impressed with the attitude. That's significant, and we will carry that over to our deployment and that will ensure we perform well."