After a yearlong tour in northern Iraq and a dangerous and controversial four-month extension in Baghdad, the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team is coming home.
The 3,800-person unit is scheduled to return to Alaska in waves starting Saturday, military officials said today.
U.S. Army Alaska spokesman Maj. Kirk Gohlke said all the troops are scheduled to be home by Dec. 5. Most will be flying into Fairbanks, where the brigade is based at Fort Wainwright, he said. About 200 will return to Fort Richardson in Anchorage.
The 172nd left Alaska for Iraq in September 2005. Their departure was and remains the largest war zone deployment of Army soldiers Alaska has seen since Vietnam.
Stryker brigade returning to Alaska
By TATABOLINE BRANT, Anchorage Daily NewsAfter a yearlong tour in northern Iraq and a dangerous and controversial four-month extension in Baghdad, the 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team is coming home.
The 3,800-person unit is scheduled to return to Alaska in waves starting Saturday, military officials said today.
U.S. Army Alaska spokesman Maj. Kirk Gohlke said all the troops are scheduled to be home by Dec. 5. Most will be flying into Fairbanks, where the brigade is based at Fort Wainwright, he said. About 200 will return to Fort Richardson in Anchorage.
The 172nd left Alaska for Iraq in September 2005. Their departure was and remains the largest war zone deployment of Army soldiers Alaska has seen since Vietnam.
