Home » Archives » "Fort welcomes Task Force Olympia home"

Fort welcomes Task Force Olympia home

Feb-14-2005 » Filed Under: TF Olympia

I apologize for not posting this until today. Welcome home and thank you!

Link to Full Article
MICHAEL GILBERT AND BILL HUTCHENS; The News Tribune

Fort Lewis offered a formal welcome home Friday to the men and women of Task Force Olympia, back from a year of running U.S. military operations across northern Iraq.

The 100 or so soldiers arrived in Iraq in January 2004 in time to replace a much larger division headquarters, and left as Iraqis held their historic election last month.

Lt. Gen. James Dubik, the Fort Lewis commanding general, praised the task force for assembling on short notice to replace several hundred soldiers who’d been doing the same job with the 101st Airborne Division.

The task force had less than 30 days to plan its move from the local post to Iraq.

“Time was a luxury that this task force did not have,” Dubik said, later adding, “They demonstrated that we are an Army that’s relevant, an Army that’s ready.”

The Army plucked the task force commander, Brig. Gen. Carter Ham, from his post as deputy commanding general for training and readiness at Fort Lewis.

The task force comprised mostly senior officers and noncommissioned officers from the post’s I Corps staff, covering an array of specialities: legal, finance, engineering, contracting, security, civil affairs, communication, training and others.

They were the headquarters for U.S., coalition and Iraqi units, the largest of which were the two Fort Lewis-based Stryker brigades. It was the first combat since the Korean War for the I Corps headquarters.

Ham is still in Mosul, handing over duties to his replacement. He is expected to return to Fort Lewis in the next week or so, but he won’t stay long. He’s been assigned a new job at the Pentagon.


Comments For "Fort welcomes Task Force Olympia home":

Welcome home for a job well done. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Posted by: Florence | February 14, 2005 12:10 PM

Welcome Home you brave souls! Thank you so much for your dedication to preserving our freedom!

Posted by: The Mom | February 14, 2005 2:06 PM

WELCOME HOME!!! It's been a rough year and I must compliment this task force on getting a very, very difficult mission accomplished.

My soldier was part of this task force in that his unit was assigned to assist in their mission. It's been a long and difficult ride for all of us. Thankfully, it's nearly over for us and we're grateful to have suffered fewer injuries and casualties than those units in other parts of Iraq. Undoubtedly, the leadership at TFO had much to do with that.

Thank you and please enjoy some well-earned lengthy R & R.

Posted by: Yvonne | February 15, 2005 4:42 AM

Post a comment

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by a site administrator before your comment will appear. We appreciate your patience.)

Advertisements