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Brigade deployment schedule changed to meet surge needs

Jun- 5-2008 » Filed Under: 4/2 SBCT

By Don Kramer, Northwest Guardian

The 4th Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division was caught squarely in the troop surge of 2007 that turned U.S. fortunes in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Originally programmed to deploy in May, the brigade was not only accelerated by a month to join surge forces in Operation Iraqi Freedom in April, but extended three months to serve a 15-month combat tour.

The one-month adjustment in its arrival date, however, required a major shift in the brigade’s Mission Readiness Exercise plans. The site shifted from the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. to Fort Lewis.

With the help of the Joint Readiness Training Center staff from Fort Polk, La., brigade planners devised a scenario to exercise all elements of the Dragoon Raider Brigade. Together, they transformed the installation into Baghdad to test the brigade’s urban fighting skills.

During the brigade farewell ceremony March 12 on Watkins Field, the commander, Col. Jon S. Lehr, expressed confidence in his unit’s expedited preparations. It was the first brigade, for example, to deploy with all 10 variants of the Stryker vehicle, including the Mobile Gun System and the NBC Reconnaissance Vehicle. The Manchus of 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment took with them the Army’s latest force multiplying system for infantrymen, the Land Warrior.

“There is no unit to enter the field of battle better prepared to execute the balanced application of culture, tactics, and technology against the enemies of our country and the free world,” Lehr said.

The brigade validated its commander’s confidence. [...]


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