Hawaii Stryker brigade prepares for Iraq duty

[unhappycamper]

Hawaii Stryker brigade prepares for Iraq duty
By William Cole - Honolulu Advertiser
Posted : Wednesday Oct 31, 2007 16:28:37 EDT

SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii — The Stryker brigade and its 4,000 soldiers received a send-off yesterday for 15 months in Iraq amid uncertainty over whether the unit will return to Hawaii afterward.

The ceremony at Sills Field repeated a scene that has become familiar since early 2004 — when the same unit, the 2nd Brigade, which was then a light infantry brigade — prepared for Schofield’s first big deployment to Iraq.

The last of more than 7,000 other Schofield soldiers who spent the past 15 months in northern Iraq, meanwhile, returned home yesterday. With them was 25th Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. “Randy” Mixon.

About 750 soldiers representing five Stryker battalions heading out stood at attention and saluted as their unit flags were cased for the deployment that will begin after Thanksgiving.

But there was more soldier optimism even as commanders raised concern about repeat deployments and an overstretched force more than 4 1/2 years into the Iraq War.

The Stryker brigade and its 328 armored vehicles are expected to operate in the areas of Taji, the desert to the west, and north Baghdad, where sectarian violence remains a large problem.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2007/10/gns_strykers_071031/



uhc comment: The article also mentions the environmental impact statement of the 25^th ID. Some Hawaiians are not very happy with uncle sam --> http://www.care2.com/c2c/groups/disc.html?gpp=67&pst=1053398&archival=&posts=3