Army IDs brigades deploying in 2009 - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Army IDs brigades deploying in 2009

Seven brigades and two headquarters units, about 22,000 soldiers, have been given orders to deploy to Iraq on regular rotations in 2009, the Army announced Tuesday.

For the first time since operations began in Afghanistan and Iraq, I Corps from Fort Lewis, Wash., will deploy. The corps headquarters will replace XVIII Airborne Corps from Fort Bragg, N.C., the current Multi-National Corps-Iraq headquarters responsible for all day-to-day operations in Iraq.

The 1st Cavalry Division headquarters element from Fort Hood, Texas, will deploy for the third time to Iraq, and six brigade combat teams.

A Wyoming National Guard fires brigade is on deck for a rotation and will be on a theater security mission working with various units as needed.

The 12-month deployments will begin in January and continue through late summer, an Army news release said.

President Bush announced earlier this month that the U.S. will withdraw about 8,000 U.S. troops from Iraq by February, with about half leaving before the end of 2008. The number of brigade combat teams in Iraq will remain at the current 15 through January, when one will leave and not be replaced. Pentagon officials have suggested more reductions could be made by summer.

The 3rd BCT, 10th Mountain Division, from Fort Drum, N.Y., was scheduled to deploy to Iraq in January and has been diverted to Afghanistan, where commanders have said they need more troops.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a Senate panel last week that if needed, he would have up to three more BCTs available for deployment to Afghanistan by spring or summer, but those brigades have not been identified.

Gates and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey each said the only way to get more troops into Afghanistan would be to divert brigades with orders for Iraq.

There are now about 152,000 U.S. troops in Iraq.

The seven brigades confirmed as part of the regular rotation to Iraq are:

• 4th “Highlanders” BCT, 1st Armored Division, Ft. Bliss, Texas in late spring;

• 4th “Red Devils” BCT, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C. in summer;

• 5th “Strike and Destroy” Stryker BCT, 2nd Infantry Division, Ft. Lewis in late summer;

• 1st “Devils in Baggy Pants” BCT, 82nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg in late summer

• 3rd “Arrowhead” Stryker BCT, 2nd Infantry Division, Ft. Lewis in late summer;

• 4th “Dragons” BCT, 1st Infantry Division, Ft. Riley, Kan in late summer;

• 115th Fires “Cowboy Thunder” Brigade, a National Guard unit from Cheyenne, Wyo., in summer.

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The Associated Press contributed to this story.