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Washington Guard's 81st Armor Brigade alerted for mobilization

Army News Service

Release Date: 11/05/2003

By Spc. Bill Putnam

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Nov. 5, 2003) -- The Army has mobilized a third National Guard combat brigade for duty in Iraq Oct. 30.

The state of Washington's 81st Armor Brigade received Department of the Army mobilization orders that will bring them on active duty Nov. 15 for about 18 months, according to a Washington National Guard press release dated Oct. 30.

The unit is one of three National Guard enhanced brigades that will deploy to Iraq sometime next spring in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The North Carolina Guard's 30th Infantry Brigade and the Arkansas National Guard's 39th Infantry Brigade have already been mobilized and are currently training for a deployment next spring.

About 4,000 soldiers from Washington and California will report for training Nov. 15 and prepare for deployment, the press release said.

"The 81st brigade will be ready to take on this new mission", said Maj. Gen. Timothy J. Lowenberg, commander of the Washington National Guard.

The brigade will spend 12 months in Iraq conducting stability and support missions, the release said.

Soldiers will spend the time between now and the mobilization coordinating their absence with their employers and putting their personal affairs in order.

They will have a few days preparing equipment and conducting individual training at their local armories before reporting to their mobilization station at Fort Lewis, Wash.

The brigade will conduct training at Fort Lewis and at Yakima Training Center, Wash., before departing for a mission rehearsal exercise at Fort Irwin, Calif.

The brigade will more than likely deploy to Iraq directly from Fort Irwin, the release said.

There are plans to "partially reconfigure" the brigade during the mobilization, the press release said. The re-organization will also allow the unit to train for the stability operations in Iraq.

Some units will start using Humvees instead of heavy tracked vehicles and will concentrate their training on those vehicles.

But the brigade will also send some of their M-1 Abrams tank and M-2 Bradley fighting vehicles, the release said.

Currently units in Iraq are using armored Humvees to conduct mounted patrols.

The 81st Brigade has two armor battalions, one infantry battalion, one engineer battalion, a field artillery battalion, a support battalion, a cavalry troop, a military intelligence company and an air defense artillery battery.

The 4,800 Soldiers of the 30th Infantry Brigade -- set to augment the Germany-based 1st Infantry Division -- are training at Fort Bragg, N.C., and Fort Stewart, Ga., said Spc. Robert Jordan, a spokesman for the North Carolina Guard.

Most of the unit's Soldiers will come from North Carolina, and the rest will come from West Virginia, Illinois and New York National Guards, Jordan said.

Soldiers from the 39th Infantry Brigade are currently training with the Fort Hood, Texas-based 1st Cavalry Division, said Air Force Capt. Kristine Munn, the public affairs officer for the Arkansas Guard.

The Soldiers will be getting "country specific training" before deploying to Iraq with the 1st Cavalry, Munn said.

The three mobilized National Guard brigades are three of 15 "enhanced" separate brigades in the Army.

(Editor's note: A press release from the Washington National Guard Public Affairs Office contributed to this story.)