Adviser mission to leave Fort Riley

[unhappycamper]

Adviser mission to leave Fort Riley
By John Milburn - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Sep 29, 2008 21:26:42 EDT

TOPEKA, Kan. — The Army has announced plans to shift a mission at Fort Riley that trains advisers sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.

The mission is being reassigned to Fort Polk, La., home of the Joint Readiness Training Center, where units go to prepare for combat operations. The Army will add 825 people to Fort Polk to train the advisers, who assist the Iraqi and Afghanistan forces.

Each brigade works with teams of 11 to 16 advisers, who train at Fort Riley and meet up with the units once overseas. Brig. Gen. Jim Yarbrough, commander of the center and Fort Polk, said the move means the units and advisers units will be able to train together.

“I think this is perfect. That’s a very effective way to train,” Yarbrough, who previously on the 1st Infantry staff at Fort Riley and was the commander of the Iraqi Assistance Group, said Monday.

Fort Riley will continue supporting adviser teams that deploy from Kansas until they return from their missions. The last Fort Riley adviser class leaves in late September 2009, said Lt. Col. James MacGregor, chief of plans for the 1st Infantry Division.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/ap_riley_advisermission_092908/%2e