I wish they would just tell us!!!!!!

DOD Announces Army Units Up for Next Iraq Troop Rotation

May 08, 2007
BY Donna Miles

Soldiers from the 1st Armored Division practice urban warfare tactics in Friedberg, Germany, April 4. Troops from the division's 2nd Brigade will be going to Iraq later this year. Photo by Martin Greeson

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, May 8, 2007) - Defense Department officials today announced the next 10 Army brigade combat teams to deploy to Iraq to replace units currently operating there.

The announcement affects about 35,000 active-duty troops, who all will deploy between August and the year's end to serve as replacement forces for those returning home, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.

The units will deploy for up to 15 months.

Mr. Whitman emphasized that the announcement is unrelated to the troop surge under way to increase security in and around Baghdad.

"Let me be real clear about this," he said. "This deployment ... is not a decision with respect to the surge. It is simply identifying the next 10 units that will receive deployment orders and to provide the kind of predictability" they need to prepare.

Any decision regarding the surge will be based "entirely upon the conditions on the ground," Mr. Whitman said.

Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, is expected to assess those conditions later this year and make recommendations regarding the surge to the commander of U.S. Central Command, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, defense secretary and president, Mr. Whitman said.

Major Army units receiving deployment orders include:

- 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas; (this is Tad's group)
- 1st, 2nd and 3rd Brigades, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.;
- 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Polk, La.;
- 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood;
- 4th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.;
- 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii;
- 2nd Cavalry Regiment (Stryker), Vilseck, Germany; and
- 2nd Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany.

Back in Utah!!!

Hello All.... We are back here in Utah. We got here last week and are excited to be here, although I wish that Tad could be here as well. I miss him a lot. He is still back in Texas doing some field training for a month and then some training in California. We just got word that we should know sometime today when he will be deploying to Iraq. His commanders said for certain sometime this fall and then we'll get a date today. It makes me a little anxious and uncertain, but I'm glad that we will at least have a date that we can prepare for. All the changing and trying to plan our lives around an unknown has been difficult. The kids have enjoyed being back here with their cousins and grandparents, you can see how much they missed them, but now they miss Tad. I wish they could have both, but with being in the Army that is a wish that will never be fulfilled on long term. They will have some vacation time at the end of July when Tad will be coming here for a couple of weeks. That will be nice, he will be able to see everyone before he deploys. That is the latest in our lives, We hope that everyone is well. We hope to get around and see everyone soon..