Thursday, January 11, 2007

Stryker Brigade reunites

BAGHDAD — The 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division headquarters, and two of its battalions, trekked from Mosul to Baghdad over a two-day period recently, performing combat operations along the way.

Other elements of the brigade had made the trek earlier.

The arrival of the Stryker brigade headquarters in Baghdad marks a reunion for 3-2 SBCT. Two battalions, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment and 1st Squadron, 14th Calvary Regiment, had been detached from the brigade since its initial deployment, in late July and early August. They have been operating in the Baghdad area while there rest of the brigade has been based out of Mosul.

The move of Stryker Soldiers to Baghdad comes in the heels of the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s redeployment to Fort Wainwright, Alaska. That brigade had been extended four months in order to help control sectarian violence in the Iraqi capital.

During the trek down from Mosul, roughly 225 miles, the 3rd brigade Soldiers proved their abilities, conducting combat operations in the remote route, which runs down the east side of Lake Tarthar, a large lake to the north and west of Baghdad, has not had coalition presence the magnitude of the Stryker convoy recently, Townsend said.

Leaders of Task Force Lightning, headed by the 25th Infantry Division, asked the Stryker Brigade to conduct reconnaissance along the route.

The 3-2 Stryker Brigade is halfway through its scheduled yearlong deployment and are scheduled to remain in Baghdad for the duration.