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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...