The Fayetteville Observer May 31, 2012

82nd Airborne Division battalion to deploy to Afghanistan in summer

By Paul Woolverton

About 800 82nd Airborne soldiers are preparing to deploy this summer to Afghanistan, the military said Wednesday, where they will combat insurgents as the country prepares for the departure of the international forces stationed there.

The 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team is due to leave in June, said Cmdr. Bill Speaks of the U.S. Secretary of Defense Office.

The battalion will join about 10,000 other 82nd Airborne soldiers stationed there, said Col. Kevin Arata, spokesman for the 18th Airborne Corps.

"These paratroopers of 2-505th are among the toughest, best-equipped and best-led combat soldiers in the world and are ready to support this short-notice mission," Arata said.

Speaks said their deployment is part of the final phase of the "surge recovery," which is the drawdown of all U.S. surge forces in Afghanistan.

According to a news release, the 2-505th will "continue the momentum of disrupting, dismantling and defeating the insurgency while the Regional Commands re-posture and reposition their forces across Afghanistan."

The International Security Assistance Forces have Afghanistan split into five Regional Commands.

Military analyst John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org said the Bragg soldiers will face Taliban fighters, who had become active in recent years. President Obama's surge of forces there has been aimed at pushing the Taliban back.

"The theory is that we're training up the Afghan National Army so that they can take over when we leave," Pike said. "The theory is that we're abating the Taliban to give the Afghan National Army some breathing space."

In all, the United States has about 88,000 personnel in Afghanistan, Speaks said, down from a peak of 100,000.

They are part of the International Security Assistance Forces, which is fighting the insurgency and teaching the Afghan National Security Forces how to fend for themselves. NATO forces are to draw down their presence over the next few years and transition to a support role by the end of 2014.

The 82nd Airborne Division Commander, Maj. Gen. Jim Huggins, said in a recent interview in Afghanistan with The Fayetteville Observer that the battalion will deploy to the eastern part of Afghanistan.

Speaks said the battalion will conduct combat operations and free up other soldiers to advise and assist Afghan forces conducting their own operations.

No specific date has been set for the return of the 2nd Battalion, a news release says. Arata said 82nd Division soldiers are expected to rotate back to Fort Bragg in the fall and winter.

By the end of September, the American force in Afghanistan is to drop to 68,000, Speaks said.

Military editor Henry Cuningham and staff writer Drew Brooks contributed to this report.