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The Department of Defense announced today the alert for mobilization of a replacement unit scheduled to deploy in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Approximately 2,600 soldiers from the 29th Combat Aviation Brigade, headquartered at Edgewood, Md., will begin deploying in the summer of 2011.

Washington, DC (AHN) - The Pentagon has decided not to send about 4,000 troops to Iraq to replace a unit scheduled to leave the country in January. The Defense Department announced that it would not be sending the 3,500-member brigade from Fort Drum, New York because the security situation continues to improve, despite some recently-reported violence. The brigade was from the 10th Mountain Division, which was going to replace a unit from the North Carolina National Guard. The Guard unit is still coming home in January, Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh told CNN. Almost 120,000 U.S. troops remain in Iraq, while...

WASHINGTON (Oct. 17) -- More than 3,000 U.S. troops scheduled to deploy to Iraq won't go after all, as the military tries to draw down troop levels in the war-torn country, a Pentagon spokesman said Saturday. The 1st Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division will not replace a North Carolina National Guard unit already in Iraq, Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh told CNN. The 3,500-troop combat team, based in Fort Drum, New York, was to leave in January, he said. "[The cancellation] reflects a thorough assessment of the security environment in Iraq and continued improvement in the ability of the...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 8, 2009 – An Army armored cavalry unit and three brigade combat teams will deploy to Iraq next summer as part of annual troop rotations there, according to a Defense Department news release issued today. Also, an Army headquarters unit and elements of a Marine expeditionary force now in Iraq have been issued deployment extensions, the release said. The number of troops involved in the movement will total about 15,000 servicemembers. The units will replace redeploying units, with no increase in overall force levels. Units identified for deployment are: -- 3rd Infantry Division’s 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team,...

WASHINGTON — Four new Advisory and Assistance Brigades (AAB) will deploy to Iraq beginning this fall in the next regularly scheduled troop rotations, a senior defense official announced yesterday.U.S. DoD Iraqi Freedom Rotation Schedule (PDF) The brigades are specially configured Army units focused on training and mentoring Iraqi Security Forces (ISF).The new AABs are among seven brigade-size elements whose upcoming deployments were announced yesterday. One brigade is going to Kuwait and two others to Afghanistan to replace redeploying forces, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters.Unlike traditional Brigade Combat Teams (BCT), the AABs will focus less on combat operations and more...

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2009 – Four new advisory and assistance brigades will deploy to Iraq beginning this fall in the next regularly scheduled troop rotations, a senior defense official announced today. The brigades, known as AABs, are specially configured Army units focused on training and mentoring Iraqi security forces. The new AABs are among seven brigade-size elements whose upcoming deployments were announced today. One brigade is going to Kuwait and two others to Afghanistan to replace redeploying forces, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. Unlike traditional brigade combat teams, the AABs will focus less on combat operations and more on...

JERUSALEM (AP) - Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and hard-line rival Benjamin Netanyahu both claimed victory Tuesday in Israel's parliamentary election but official results suggested the race was too close to call. Right-wing parties - including Netanyahu's Likud Party - appear to have won a clear majority of 64 seats in the 120-seat parliament, which would give Netanyahu the upper hand in forming the next government. However, with more than two-thirds of the votes counted, Livni's centrist Kadima Party had 29 seats, while Likud had 28. Those results could change by a seat or two when soldiers' votes are tallied Thursday...

Canada A.M. Special Report on Canadian Soldiers (videos) http://www.ctv.ca/canadaam

BAGHDAD – Approximately, 3,500 Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division are redeploying to Fort Benning, Georgia, in the next several weeks.The 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team deployed in March 2007 to secure the Mada’in Qada in Baghdad Province east of the Diyala River.The brigade was one of five units deployed in support of the surge.The 3rd HBCT’s operations in Mada’in Qada helped improve the safety and quality of life for approximately 120,000 people living there. Its contributions over the last 14 months have led to improvements in security and the capture of more than 600 criminals, numerous cache...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE HAMMER, Iraq, April 28, 2008 – After months of intensive training at Fort Benning, Ga., and a rotation to the National Training Center, in Fort Irwin, Calif., the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team deployed here in March 2007, prepared to accomplish their mission. Army Capt. Josh Beard, from Opelika, Ala., the civil-military operations officer for 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery, greets a worker who helped set up a well and filtration system at a girls school in Narhwan, Iraq. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team established relationships with citizens through community projects and...

WASHINGTON, April 10, 2008 – President Bush today directed Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates to shorten deployment lengths for U.S. soldiers in Iraq from 15 to 12 months, starting in August. Video Bush said he made the decision to reduce the strain on the force and because security improvements in Iraq have allowed for the withdrawal of all five surge combat brigades by the end of July. He also said that officials would ensure troops have at least a year at home between deployments. The change goes into affect Aug. 1 and will not affect those already deployed there....

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, April 10, 2008 – On the 101st day of 2008, the headquarters of the 101st Airborne Division officially became Combined Joint Task Force 101 and took command of NATO’s Regional Command East sector of Afghanistan from the 82nd Airborne Division. Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Schloesser and Division Command Sgt. Maj. Vincent Camacho of 101st Airborne Division uncase the division colors during a transfer-of-authority ceremony at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, April 10, 2008. The 101st Airborne Division assumed command of Combined Joint Task Force 101 from 82nd Airborne Division in Regional Command East of NATO’s International...

Reid: Bush has 'exit strategy' only for himself Congressional Democrats pushed back hard Thursday against President Bush’s speech on Iraq, accusing him of delaying further troop withdrawals so that he can hand off the conflict to the next president. Democrats welcomed Bush’s call to reduce troop deployments from 15 months to 12 months, but they said he should go further and embrace a proposal by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) under which soldiers would spend at least a year at home before they could be called back to active duty in Iraq. Webb’s deployment proposal came up three votes short last...

POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C., April 1, 2008 – The spike of violence in Basra and southern Baghdad proves the contention of military leaders that there are still going to be tough days ahead in Iraq, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here yesterday. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen told soldiers and airmen here that the fighting in the two cities is an indication that “we are very much tied to conditions on the ground, and conditions on the ground are going to continue to evolve.” Mullen said this does not mean the redeployment of the surge...

WASHINGTON, March 9, 2008 – A military spokesman in Iraq today praised soldiers of an Army brigade that will soon redeploy to the U.S. and mark the first reduction in the number of surge forces sent to stabilize Iraq last year. Multinational Force Iraq officials announced March 6 that some 2,000 paratroopers from the 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, will return to Fort Bragg, N.C., in the next several weeks, reducing the number of U.S. combat brigades in Iraq from 19 to 18. “On behalf of the men and women of (Multinational Force Iraq), I want to thank the 2nd...

FORT BLISS, Texas, March 5, 2008 – As Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno was urging the Army’s return to 12-month deployments, an Army brigade here just back from Iraq was getting word that it’s time to start training for its next combat rotation. Soldiers of 4th Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, who recently returned to Fort Bliss, Texas, after 15 months in Iraq, already are laying plans to return to the field to train up for their next deployment, feasibly as soon as a year away. U.S. Army photo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Soldiers from the...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2008 – Conditions on the ground will determine troop redeployment out of Iraq, and more troops are needed in Afghanistan, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today at a Pentagon news conference. Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen said no decision has been made about a pause after the first tranche of surge forces return from Iraq. Staffs at U.S. Central Command, in Washington and in Iraq are working on recommendations about troop levels in Iraq for presentation to President Bush in April. One of the five surge brigades has already redeployed from Iraq...

WASHINGTON - Soldiers' battlefield tours would be cut from 15 months to 12 months beginning Aug. 1, under a proposal being considered by the Army as part of an effort to reduce the stress on a force battered by more than six years at war. The proposal, recommended by U.S. Army Forces Command, is being reviewed by senior Army and Pentagon leaders, and would be contingent on the changing needs for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Our top priority is going to be meeting the combatant commanders' requirements, so there may be no decision until we get more clarity on...

A baby's cries were the only sound that broke the hush when the soldiers of the 257th Transportation Company marched out Saturday before an overflow crowd of hundreds of relatives and friends who had come to say farewell. For many of the more than 200 men and women who make up the Army Reserve unit, that sound will be one of the things they miss the most when they deploy, first for two months of training in Indiana, then for the Middle East. They have deployed before, but they have become parents since that last deployment, or added new children...

US to send 3,000 Marines to Afghanistan By LOLITA C. BALDOR, Associated Press Writer 25 minutes ago The Pentagon is preparing to send at least 3,000 Marines to Afghanistan in April to bolster efforts to hold off another expected Taliban offensive in the spring, military officials said Wednesday. The move represents a shift in Pentagon thinking that has been slowly developing after months of repeated insistence that the U.S. was not inclined to fill the need for as many as 7,500 more troops that commanders have asked for there. Instead, Defense Secretary Robert Gates pressed NATO allies to contribute the...

FORT HUACHUCA — The shadows of snow clouds steadily built and enveloped the Huachucas, but never quite managed to engulf hangar No. 3 at Libby Army Airfield late Monday afternoon. There was already enough precipitation flowing as the families, friends, a few pets, and comrades-in-arms gathered for two all-too-brief hours to say a goodbye with a kiss, hug or gentle touch that must last 15 months. “I gave him a present on his birthday,” said Chief Warrant Officer Ramona Hill, indicating little Wilson Hill, born on Oct. 25, held by his daddy with whom he will always share a birthday,...

As security improves in Iraq, pressure is building to reverse one of the most onerous decisions Defense Secretary Robert Gates made to enable President Bush's troop buildup to go forward this year: extending the tours of active-duty soldiers from 12 months to 15 months. The extra three months is a weighty burden, both physically and psychologically, for soldiers already stressed by multiple tours, and on families coping with strains that have mounted since the war began in 2003. "We can't sustain that," Gen. George Casey, who was the top U.S. commander in Iraq before becoming the Army chief of staff...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5, 2007 – About 1,000 members of 10th Mountain Division will deploy to Iraq this spring as replacements for troops due to rotate home, Defense Department officials announced today. The division, based at Fort Drum, N.Y., has been alerted of the upcoming deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman confirmed today. “It was not a surprise. It was more of a confirmation,” Benjamin Abel, the division’s media relations officer, told American Forces Press Service. Since returning from its last deployment in February and March, the unit has received new troops and conducted collective training,...

An amendment to mandate minimum rest times for U.S. troops between deployments faced long odds Wednesday after an influential Republican senator switched his position and said he would vote against it. John W. Warner, R-Va., a senior Armed Services Committee member who voted for the amendment by Jim Webb, D-Va., when it last came to the floor in July, said he had changed his mind. He said the ranks of military specialists are so thin in many positions that commanders on the ground would be seriously hobbled by mandatory “dwell times” between deployments.Bush administration officials have been furiously lobbying moderate...

Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2007 13:26:19 GMT From: "Jim Webb" Subject: Stop Burning Out The Troops Dear Friend, This Dwell Time Amendment provides a safety net under our troops. However long a servicemember has been deployed, they deserve at least that much time at home. It is a very simple, common sense amendment. For the sake of our servicemembers and their families, this is the right thing to do. Click here to email your Senators! Today, Senator Chuck Hagel and I will reintroduce an amendment that seeks to provide our men and women in uniform with the responsible rotational cycles...

Soldiers of 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment (SCR), prepare to raise the regimental flag over the headquarters during a transfer of authority event on Camp Liberty, Sept. 8. The 2nd SCR out of Vilseck, Germany, relieved the Arrowhead Brigade, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, out of Fort Lewis, Wash. Photo by Spc. Leith Edgar, 7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment. CAMP LIBERTY — The 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment (SCR) “Dragoons� replaced the 3rd “Arrowhead� Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division as the quick-reaction force for the Iraqi capital Sept. 13, allowing the Arrowhead Soldiers to return home to...

Jim Webb, the loquacious freshman senator from Virginia, is again proposing an amendment that would mandate a certain amount of time that soldiers must spend at home between deployments. At first glance, supporting this amendment looks like supporting motherhood and apple pie — Webb’s stated aim is to take care of America’s soldiers at war, and who could possibly object to that? The amendment, furthermore, gives the president the right to waive the requirement “if the President certifies to Congress that the deployment…is necessary to meet an operational emergency posing a threat to vital national security interests of the United...

Democrats yesterday touted legislation to guarantee troops time at home between deployments to Iraq. snip The measure would require that regular military units returning from the war receive at least as much time at home as they spent in Iraq. Reserve units would get a home stay three times as long as they spent in the war zone

WASHINGTON - Democrats on Saturday touted legislation to guarantee troops time at home between deployments to Iraq. In the party's weekly radio address, Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif., criticized President Bush for threatening to veto the bill, contending his administration's policies on troop deployments have weakened the military. "The president's surge has sent many of our Army units to Iraq for the second and third time. We are asking our troops to make heroic sacrifices — yet as soon as they return we rush them back into battle," said Tauscher, author of the bill that passed the House Aug. 2 on...

11:49 AM PDT, August 2, 2007 WASHINGTON -- The House today passed a measure to mandate more rest at home for troops serving in Iraq, with Democrats taking another swipe at President Bush's management of the war on the eve of Congress' summer recess. The legislation — which passed 229 to 194, with six Republicans joining the majority — stands little chance of becoming law. A similar proposal sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) was blocked by Senate Republicans last month, and the White House today issued a veto threat. But as lawmakers prepare to go home to face their...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - The proliferation of insurgent attacks in Afghanistan will make it difficult to prevent the number of Canadian deaths in the conflict from rising, says Canada's new military commander in the war-torn country. Brig.-Gen. Guy Laroche made the comment in Kandahar on Friday as he arrived to replace Brig.-Gen. Tim Grant, who is leaving after a nine-month stay. Laroche's remark echoes comments made by politicans in recent weeks. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said his government doesn't treat military deaths lightly but that it won't alter its plan to maintain the current operation until 2009. Sixty-six Canadian...

WASHINGTON, May 9, 2007 – Defense Department officials today announced the next two major Army units that will deploy to Afghanistan to continue the operations of current U.S. forces in the region. The announcement affects 4,500 soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division, from Fort Campbell, Ky., who will begin deploying in early 2008, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. “This is a reflection of the continued U.S. commitment to maintain two brigades in Afghanistan to maintain the level of forces necessary to provide sufficient military capability to NATO (International Security Assistance Force), to perform counterterrorism operations, assist with reconstruction,...

WASHINGTON, May 8, 2007 – Defense Department officials today announced the next 10 Army brigade combat teams to deploy to Iraq to replace units currently operating there. The announcement affects about 35,000 active-duty troops, who all will deploy between August and the year’s end to serve as replacement forces for those returning home, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. The units will deploy for up to 15 months. Whitman emphasized that the announcement is unrelated to the troop surge under way to increase security in and around Baghdad. “Let me be real clear about this,” he said. “This deployment...

WASHINGTON - In a new sign of mounting strain from the war in Iraq, the Army has extended the combat tours of about 4,000 soldiers who would otherwise be returning home, defense officials said Monday. The 1st Brigade of 1st Armored Division, which is operating in the vicinity of Ramadi, the capital of Anbar province, will be kept in place for several weeks beyond its scheduled departure, the officials said. The officials spoke only on condition of anonymity because the decision has not been formally announced by the Pentagon. The brigade's home base is in Germany. The soldiers' families were...

Pentagon: 82nd Airborne brigade among soldiers to be deployed WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon announced Wednesday that a combat brigade of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, will deploy to Afghanistan late this year as part of the next rotation of forces. The deployment, to include the 82nd Airborne headquarters staff and various unidentified support units, will total about 11,000 soldiers, the Pentagon said. The announcement gave no indication that this would represent either an increase or a decrease in U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, which currently stand at about 22,000. At a Pentagon news conference, Gen....

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - The changeover of Canadian soldiers began in earnest here yesterday when about 120 fresh troops, the first of many waves gearing up to replace the 2,000 soldiers bound for home, clambered down two Hercules aircraft and tested their rifles beneath the blazing desert sun. Before the day was through, they were reminded of the dangers they will face over their six-month tour in southern Afghanistan when a Canadian soldier was injured by a Canadian M-777 Howitzer blast west of Kandahar City. The mishap occurred during operations aimed at countering Taliban disruptions of military and civilian traffic. "Howitzers...

Tomorrow morning, Capt. Thomas Sullivan and 170 other soldiers of the 77th TC CO, a transportation company of the United States Army Reserves, will be activated from Fort Totten in Bayside, Queens, for deployment to Iraq. Godspeed. "This unit was one of the first into Iraq in November of 2002," says Sullivan. "I'm so damned proud of 50 of these guys who are willingly going back for a second tour. Our job is transportations, trucking whatever is needed for the war effort. Our biggest threat are the IEDs - improvised explosive devices - and so for the next 60 days...

The Department of Defense announced today an adjustment to the deployment of the 4th Brigade, 10th Mountain Division toAfghanistan. The entire brigade will not deploy as previously announced in December 2004; instead one battalion-sized task force consisting of an infantry battalion and attached fire-support, communications and logistics elements will deploy to assist transition of the coalition operations to the NATO International Security Assistance Force in southern Afghanistan in mid 2006. The non-deploying elements of the brigade will remain prepared to deploy within 15 days. There are nearly 19,000 U.S. troops leading counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan. The decision announced today will...

Two 1st Cavalry brigades going back to Iraq By Master Sgt. Dave Larsen December 19, 2005 FORT HOOD, Texas (Army News Service, Dec. 19, 2005) –The aviation and support brigades of the 1st Cavalry Division have received deployment orders to return to Iraq this summer. The division returned from Iraq in March after a 15-month deployment. Maj. Gen. Joseph Fil Jr., commanding general of the 1st Cavalry Division, made the deployment announcement during the III Corps-sponsored quarterly “TV Town Hall” broadcast Dec. 15 on KNCT-TV, the Killeen-area Public Broadcasting System affiliate. The 1st Air Cavalry Brigade and the 15th Support...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 - The Fourth Infantry Division returns to Iraq next month for a complex, yearlong tour that illustrates the risks and goals of the American military's postelection mission across Iraq. The more than 20,000 troops in the division, about 15 percent of the 138,000-strong American commitment scheduled to remain in Iraq at least through the early part of the year, will be responsible for security across a swath of central and south-central Iraq that is much larger than previous commands have tried to cover there. The expanded mission includes more than a hope, but a requirement, that Iraqi...

General in Iraq Expects Troop Levels to Drop By LOLITA C. BALDOR ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - The top U.S. military commander in Iraq said Friday he would make recommendations in the next few weeks about troop withdrawals from Iraq, and he expects the force level will drop back to 138,000 by early February. That has been the usual number this year. Speaking from Iraq, Gen. George Casey told Pentagon reporters that by late next fall, the Iraqi military should be able to largely take the lead in the country's defense, with continued support from U.S. and coalition transition teams....

The Pentagon has tentative plans to halt the scheduled deployment of two brigades to Iraq and instead send in smaller teams to support and train Iraqi forces in what could be an early step toward an eventual drawdown of U.S. forces, defense officials said Wednesday. The proposal comes amid growing pressure from Congress and the public to pull troops out of Iraq. Details are still under discussion, and it would largely depend on the military and political conditions there after the parliamentary elections next week, said the officials. The two officials, who did not want to be identified because the...

FORT HOOD, Texas - As he prepared to head off to war in Iraq, Army Pfc. Perry Rasmussen was still sorting through conflicting emotions. “As a person, I'm a little afraid and I'm worried about my family and friends,” said Rasmussen, a 21-year-old gunner from Portland, Ore. “But as a soldier, I've got to suck it up and do my job.” Rasmussen was among several hundred soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division who said goodbye to loved ones and boarded planes Tuesday to fly to the Middle East. By the end of December, nearly 21,000 troops from the division are...

More Fort Hood Soldiers Leave For Iraq Wednesday Fort Hood Troops Board Planes For Iraq Tuesday Soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division’s Fires Brigade and 2nd Brigade Combat Team will leave Fort Hood Wednesday for a yearlong deployment to Iraq. Hundreds of 4th ID soldiers said goodbye to loved ones and boarded planes Monday for the trip to Iraq. Baskets were laid out on tables for soldiers to pick up writing paper, packets of sunscreen, American flags and decks of playing cards as parting gifts. Other volunteers offered rosary beads and Bibles with camouflage covers. By the end of December,...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2005 – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld today announced the next major units to deploy to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He emphasized that rotation planning remains flexible and will be based on conditions on the ground, not political pressures or artificial timetables. Today's announcement affects about 92,000 servicemembers -- more than 65,000 from the active component and 26,000 from the Guard and Reserve -- who will begin their scheduled rotation in mid-2006, according to Army Lt. Col. Barry Venable, a Defense Department spokesman. Major units to deploy include: Division Headquarters and 3rd Brigade, 25th...

FORT HOOD, TEXAS (Army News Service, Oct. 31, 2005) -- Marking the official beginning of the 4th Infantry Division's deployment to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, Soldiers of the "Ivy" Division cased their colors at a ceremony on Fort Hood's Cameron Field Oct. 28. Although 470 Soldiers from the division's Support Brigade have already made their way to the troubled region to set up beans and bullets for the incoming troops, the rest of the division's 20,500 Soldiers are scheduled to hit ground through the rest of this year. "Only 580 days ago, you (the 4th Inf. Div.)...

Soldiers expect experience and battle-tested teachers to make the difference FORT HOOD - Just days after the nation reached the 2,000 fatality mark in the Iraq war, the Army's largest fighting force is bracing to return to the battlefield to face an enemy their commander describes as "a band of thugs." About 500 troops of the 4th Infantry Division are in the combat zone to prepare the way for more than 20,000 other soldiers who, beginning next week, will depart Central Texas to serve from 12 to 14 months in that insurgent-terrorized nation. The massive deployment of the "Ironhorse" division,...

THE first of 450 Australian troops to replace the task group in Iraq's southern al-Muthanna province have left Darwin. The second rotation of troops, drawn from 5/7RAR and the First Brigade One Cavalry Regiment, headed out by air last night. The troops have been deployed for six months, with the job of protecting Japanese engineers undertaking humanitarian work and training Iraqi security forces. The Government has said it will review the mission when it expires in May. Chief of the Defence Force Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said earlier this month it was possible the troops could be out before...

TIRANA, Albania - (AP) The Albanian army began its sixth troop rotation in Iraq Sunday with a 120-troop army contingent that is to replace soldiers who have served there since April, the Defense Ministry said. The army unit is to serve a six-month mission in Iraq under U.S.-led command serve in a non-combat role, mainly patrolling the airport in the Iraqi city of Mosul. Defense Minister Fatmir Mediu, army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Pellumb Qazimi and U.S. Ambassador Marcie Ries were present at the ceremony at an army base before the troops departed for Iraq. Albania, a predominantly Muslim...

HADITHA, Iraq - They stormed the insurgent-ridden city of Fallujah, returned home, and now are back in Iraq's most troubled province — all in 10 months time. Some prefer this hectic pace. "I didn't join the Marine Corps just to stand around," said Lance Cpl. Giovanni Perez of Los Angeles. But for others, the demands of the overstretched U.S. military are just too much, regardless of the bonuses being dangled before them to re-enlist. "I get out of the Marine Corps in seven months and I can't wait," Cpl. Daniel Trigg of Olympia, Wash., said while guarding a mosque where...