Fort Hood announced just before noon Monday that the 1st Cavalry Division received its deployment orders over the weekend and is beginning preparations to head overseas.
No announcement has been made about the division’s final destination other than the U.S. Central Command area of operations, which includes the Middle East, Central Asia and parts of Africa.
Post officials had no estimate Monday on how long it will take to complete the movement overseas.
Commanded by Maj. Gen. Joseph Peterson, the 1st Cav has about 17,000 soldiers assigned to the division’s seven brigades.
The division’s 1st and 2nd Brigades have completed their transition to the Army’s new digital battlefield systems. Its 3rd Brigade is scheduled to begin the transition process this year.
More than 12,500 4th Infantry Division are still waiting to deploy from Fort Hood, pending approval from the Turkish parliament to be staged in Turkey on Iraq’s northern border. The measure failed to win support from the Turkish parliament over the weekend, leaving the division’s equipment stranded on ships in the eastern Mediterranean.
As of Monday, about 1,100 soldiers have deployed from Fort Hood since the beginning of January.