'RAQSTAR

Good music vid from Mike the Marine over at From the Halls to the Shores

h/t AWTM and Tammi

Next OIF Rotations Announced

DoD Announces Force Adjustments

The Department of Defense announced today additional major units scheduled to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The announcement involves one division headquarters and seven brigade combat teams consisting of approximately 25,000 personnel.

The deployment window for these units will begin in the fall and continue until the end of the year.

This announcement reflects the continued commitment of the United States to the security of the Iraqi people, and provides replacement forces required to maintain the current level of effort in Iraq. Subsequent deployment orders will be issued based on force level decisions made in the future.

These deployments will provide commanders in Iraq the flexibility to maintain the appropriate force structure based on their assessment of the security situation on the ground.

Specific units receiving deployment orders include:

25th Infantry Division Headquarters, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii
1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.
2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.
3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii
2nd Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.
3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
172nd Infantry Brigade, Schweinfurt, Germany
3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas

The Department recognizes the continued sacrifices of these units and their family members.

and

The Department of Defense announced today the alert of additional major units scheduled to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The announcement involves four brigades from the Army National Guard.

All four brigades will have a security force mission and be assigned tasks to assure freedom of movement and continuity of operations in the country. Those tasks will include base defense and route security in Iraq and Kuwait.

These deployments will involve approximately 14,000 personnel who will begin deploying in the spring of 2009. They are receiving alert orders now in order to provide them the maximum time to complete their preparations. It also provides a greater measure of predictability for family members and flexibility for employers to plan for military service of their employees.

Specific decisions made by the secretary of defense include:

72nd Brigade Combat Team, Texas National Guard

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division, Pennsylvania National Guard

256th Brigade Combat Team, Louisiana National Guard

278th Brigade Combat Team, Tennessee National Guard

Unit deployments reflect the continued commitment of the United States to the security of the Iraqi people. The Department recognizes the continued sacrifices of these units and their family members.

and these are in addition to these units announced in December '07 scheduled for summer '09.

This is how Sec. Gates laid it out last month...

God bless our troops... and God bless America.