Stryker brigade ready for Iraq
SCOTT FONTAINE; The News Tribune
During a day at Fort Lewis dedicated to the future, much of the focus was on the past.
Veterans from World War II and the Korean War helped case the colors for 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division on Tuesday ahead of leaving for its second tour of Iraq. Speeches centered on the unit’s success on its first deployment in 2007, when it weathered a brutal 15 months of combat.
This time, a different atmosphere awaits the 4,000 Stryker brigade soldiers. A new security agreement means American soldiers are going on fewer combat missions. And training up the Iraqi military is of the utmost importance. The 4th brigade’s year-long deployment will be crucial to long-term stability in Iraq, the acting post commander told thousands assembled at Watkins Field for Tuesday’s ceremony.
“You are the men and women who will help create change and help transform Iraq,” Brig. Gen Jeff Mathis said. “You know the infrastructure, you know the government, and you know the people. Bottom line: You know Iraq better than anyone.”
Under cloudy skies, the soldiers stood in formation as a band played and speeches were made. Mathis and brigade commander Col. John Norris inspected the troops while riding in an armored Stryker. And 2nd Infantry Division veterans from wars past – most in town for a reunion – helped case the colors of the brigade and battalions, which trace their history to the division’s original regiments.
The departure of 4th Brigade means about 18,000 of Fort Lewis’ 31,000 troops will be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan by this fall. I Corps is running daily U.S. military operations in Iraq, and 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division left in July for Iraq’s Diyala province. And 5th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division has begun a yearlong combat tour in Afghanistan.
The 4th Brigade will serve in Baghdad, a familiar location: The unit deployed to the capital in April 2007 as part of the troop surge to tame the raging insurgency. Most troops eventually moved north to Diyala province, another enemy stronghold.
The brigade was expected to have two years at home to reset its equipment, retrain its soldiers and gradually work its way back up to fullstrength. But in March, the Pentagon announced the departure date would be moved up by about 10 months.
“The acceleration was incredible,” Norris said. “When word first came out, I had knots in my stomach as a brigade commander trying to get my brigade ready to go downrange.
“But the brigade is ready,” he said a bit later. “We did a lot of training. We accomplished a lot. The attitude is incredibly high. And we’re ready to get after it.”
Norris said the focus will shift to training Iraq’s military.
About 2,500 of 4th Brigade’s soldiers have previous combat experience, and about 2,000 deployed with the unit the first time. For some, it’s a bit of a strange feeling to return to an Iraq where violence has dropped and the role of the U.S. military is ebbing.
“It’ll be surreal,” said Capt. James McConnell, who will make his fourth trip to Iraq, this time as the commander of the support battalion’s maintenance company. “Knowing what was there and reading what’s going on now, it just seems all so different.”
Scott Fontaine: 253-320-4758
scott.fontaine@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/military
