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Stryker Brigade to say farewell to Fairbanks

Jul-28-2005 » Filed Under: 172nd SBCT

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By MARGARET FRIEDENAUER, News-Miner

The 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team will get an official send-off today from Army officials, families, friends and the public when the 3,800 soldiers assigned to the brigade gather today at the Fort Wainwright Army Post.

The ceremony marks the deployment of the brigade, comprised of 3,100 soldiers stationed at Fort Wainwright and 700 at Fort Richardson in Anchorage. Waves of troops from the brigade begin leaving for Iraq in early August. The 172nd is relieving the 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division--another Stryker Brigade from Fort Lewis, Wash., that has been serving in Iraq since September.

Brigade commander Col. Michael Shields said in an e-mail interview Wednesday that the brigade will conduct an array of combat operations, civil military operations and other stability and support operations. U.S. forces will work in conjunction with Iraqi troops much of the time. While he couldn't get specific, Shields said the brigade will conduct missions in both rural and urban areas located primarily in northern Iraq.

While the brigades' mission is complex, Shields said the soldiers are trained and honed for what they will face.


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