Warrior Brigade to deploy in spring
FORT DRUM — The approximately 3,500 soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team will deploy to Afghanistan in early spring, according to press releases Monday from the division and the Department of Defense.
The 1st Brigade Combat Team, known as the Warrior Brigade, will conduct a training mission during the 12-month deployment, the releases said.
"The call was put out on Saturday," Staff Sgt. John Queen, a spokesman for the Fort Drum brigade, said Monday. Notification to soldiers was "a trickle-down kind of thing," he said.
Now, he said, "We just have to prep equipment to go."
Sgt. Queen said he didn't have any more information about the planned deployment, including exactly where in Afghanistan the soldiers are headed or when they will leave.
"The ultimate mission of the 1st BCT and the area they will be deployed will be based on the needs of the combatant commander in Afghanistan," the 10th Mountain Division release said.
The Defense Department announced Afghanistan deployments for a total of 16,000 troops today, the first in a planned 30,000 President Obama authorized Nov. 30 as part of an escalation of that war effort. About 70,000 troops are in the country now.
About 1,500 Marines comprising an infantry battalion task force based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., will deploy later this month, with an additional 6,200 Camp Lejeune Marines to follow in early spring, according to the Defense Department release. A Marine Expeditionary Force headquarters from Camp Pendleton, Calif., will contribute about 800 troops in the spring.
About 4,100 support troops — the release didn't say from which units — also will deploy through next spring.
Maj. Gen. James L. Terry, commander of the 10th Mountain Division and Fort Drum, said last month he thought portions of the division's 10th Sustainment Brigade may deploy to Afghanistan as part of a troop increase there.
"The top priority in this division right now is to ensure the preparedness of the Soldiers and Families of the Warrior Brigade" in advance of their tour, the general said in the division press release.
The 1st Brigade Combat Team's most recent deployment was to Iraq from September 2007 to November 2008. Previously, the unit deployed to Afghanistan in 2003 and Iraq in 2005.
Not covered in Monday's announcement are the expected deployments of two Army brigades from Fort Campbell, Ky. Those and additional training or support units are expected to be announced in a second wave of orders in the coming weeks.
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was visiting Fort Campbell and Camp Lejeune on Monday to speak to troops expected to deploy as part of the new strategy.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
