Home » Archives » "Post gets prepared for influx"

Post gets prepared for influx

Aug- 3-2004 » Filed Under: 1/25 SBCT , 3/2 SBCT

[Link to Full Article]
CHRISTIAN HILL. THE OLYMPIAN

The arrival of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment will be an easy transition for Fort Lewis and the 3,900 soldiers moving from Louisiana, the post's commanding general said.

The Department of Defense announced about two weeks ago the regiment will relocate from Fort Polk to become the post's third Stryker brigade as part of an Army strategy to develop smaller and more independent combat units.

"It's not going to be difficult at all to bring this unit on board," Lt. Gen. Edward Soriano, commander of Fort Lewis and I Corps, told The Olympian editorial board Monday. "We have the facilities and we have the infrastructure to bring them on."

The new soldiers are expected to bring about 6,000 family members with them when they start arriving in April. Housing for the arrivals will be an issue, Soriano said, but his hope is that the organization that runs the post's housing will speed up construction and that the larger community can meet the demand.

About one in four soldiers stationed at Fort Lewis lives on base.

Soriano said the 2nd might not be the last major unit to move to Fort Lewis as the Army continues its drive to transform itself into a more easily deployable fighting force. [...]

The fort has two current Stryker brigades, units named after the eight-wheeled vehicles that help the Army fill a gap between light and heavy forces. The 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division is in northern Iraq. The 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division will replace it starting in October.

Soriano said the 3rd Brigade has exceeded every expectation and that confidence in its capability is allowing theater commanders to use it in all types of environments.

He said Fort Lewis forces are making progress in Iraq and that morale is good among the soldiers. Thirty-eight soldiers from the post have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, Soriano said.


Advertisements