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Two brigades extended in Iraq for elections

By Sgt. 1st Class Tammy M. Jarrett
December 1, 2004

WASHINGTON (Army News Service Dec. 1, 2004) - Two Army brigades and a Marine expeditionary unit have been extended in Iraq through the upcoming elections, Pentagon officials announced Dec. 1.

The 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, and the 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, from Fort Hood, Texas, will remain in theater to keep pressure on insurgents before the elections in January, said Brig. Gen. David Rodriguez, director of Regional Operations, Joint Staff Operations Directorate.

Rodriguez said the extensions also includes the 66th Transportation Company from Kleber Kasern, Germany.

The Secretary of Defense approved the extensions after receiving a request from the commander of Multi-National Forces-Iraq. He also approved the commander's request for two additional infantry battalions to deploy to Iraq.

The two battalions from the Division Ready Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division should be in country by mid-December to support this effort, said Rodriguez. The Soldiers will be deployed for up to 120 days.

More than 575 Soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division deployed earlier this year to Afghanistan for 90 days to help with elections there, said Maj. Gen. Fred D. Robinson, the Army's director of operations, readiness and mobilizations, G3. He said this deployment to Iraq will not have an affect on the DRB's readiness.

"Immediately upon these two battalions deploying out of DRB, we will regenerate two battalions to take their place - there will be no gap in the DRB capability," said Robinson.

Gen. George Casey, MNF-I commander, requested the deployment and extensions because these units are the most experienced and best-qualified forces to sustain the momentum of post-Fallujah operations and to provide for additional security for the upcoming elections, in conjunction with the Iraqi Security forces, Pentagon officials said.

There will be no plans to accelerate the deployment of the 3rd Infantry Division or the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, officials said.

The length of extension will vary between the units. For the 2nd Bde., 1st Cav., this is their second extension. They were originally scheduled to redeploy last month, but were extended two months to Jan. 12. Rodriguez said the division is now scheduled to come out in early to mid-March.

The 2/25th, which was scheduled to return to the states at the beginning of the year, now will return in March. The Marine's 31st Expeditionary Unit from Okinawa, Japan, will return around March 15.

These extensions will affect about 10,400 Soldiers and will increase U.S. forces in theater from 17 to 20 brigades, officials said. By election time, the goal is to have about 150,000 personnel in Iraq, the highest since May 2003.

Soldiers extended will receive $1,000 incentive pay for any month or half month served in Iraq beyond their scheduled one-year rotation date. This includes $800 a month for assignment incentive pay and up to an additional $200 a month for hardship duty pay, said officials.