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By MARGARET FRIEDENAUER, The News-Miner
Cheryl Brendell, manager of The Food Factory on College Road, said the restaurant is usually a sea of olive green and khaki during the noon hour, full of soldiers from nearby Fort Wainwright who frequent the establishment for lunch.
"We're constantly having reservations for 20, 30, 40 people," she said.
But talking from the restaurant Thursday afternoon, she said many of the tables were empty because a substantial portion of her customer base is now eating lunch in Iraq.
With the last five soldiers of the 3,800 member Stryker Brigade Combat Team leaving today for an anticipated yearlong deployment to Iraq, Fairbanks is already experiencing a noticeable void. While the greatest pains will be felt by friends and families of the soldiers, the local economy is already noticing the effects of the largest Army deployment out of Alaska since the Vietnam War, which not only means thousands of soldiers are deployed for the year, but that some of their families are also leaving the area.
Of the brigade, about 3,100 soldiers are stationed at Fort Wainwright, with 700 stationed at Fort Richardson in Anchorage. According to Col. Robert Ball, deputy commanding officer of U.S. Army Alaska, 1,741 of the soldiers have families in the Fairbanks area. As of last week, about 17 percent of those families had requested to move from Fairbanks during the deployment. [...]
And when the Strykers return from Iraq, the 3rd Infantry, currently stationed at Fort Richardson, will move to Fort Wainwright. The move will bring 687 soldiers and an unknown number of families to Fairbanks.
"It's a very dynamic time," Ball said.
Staff writer Margaret Friedenauer can be reached at 459-7545 or mfriedenauer@newsminer.com.