25,000 Troops Bound for Iraq

Roughly 25,000 active-duty soldiers will rotate into Iraq beginning later this year, the Pentagon announced May 19. Another 14,000 National Guard troops will head to Kuwait beginning next spring. Most of the troops will come from units of the 25th Infantry Division’s Fort Wainwright, Alaska-based 1st Brigade and Schofield Barracks, Hawaii-based 3rd Brigade. Other deploying units include: the 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.; 2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.; 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; and the 172nd Infantry Brigade, Schweinfurt, Germany. The Guard units, all brigade combat teams from Texas, Pennsylania, Louisiana, and Tennessee, will provide route security and base defense in Iraq and Kuwait. The Pentagon also announced that the 86th Brigade Combat Team, Vermont Army National Guard, will deploy to Afghanistan in two years to provide security forces training to Afghan troops. End strength in both combat theaters will remain the same; the deploying units will replace troops who are scheduled to return home.