1st Brigade soldiers ready to head home to Fort Hood Posted On: Tuesday, Feb. 24 2009 05:33 AM By Amanda Kim Stairrett
Killeen Daily Herald

Lt. Col. Troy Smith and his soldiers are ready to come home.

The 4th Infantry Division's 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team deployed in March 2008 with the expectation of serving 15 months. All indications point to a 12-month deployment, which means a March return for the men and women of the 1st Brigade. Still, the soldiers know there's the potential of staying three more months, Smith said during a telephone interview Monday from Iraq.

The return process is set to begin shortly, with soldiers transferring equipment to the 1st Armored Division's 2nd Brigade Combat Team. A flurry of paperwork and movement from Iraq to Kuwait should follow soon after. Next is a two- to three-day stay in Kuwait and a long plane trip back to the states. Then, and only then, will the soldiers and families of the 1st Brigade know the deployment is over.

Smith's squadron has spent 12 months in the southern portion of the Rashid District, which is in the southern quarter of the city of Baghdad.

The brigade took over Rashid in early 2008, replacing the 1st Infantry Division's 4th Brigade Combat Team from Fort Riley, Kan., on April 13.

The district is in the southern quarter of Baghdad, Iraq, and is similar in land area size to Orlando, Fla., with 101 square miles. More than 220,000 people inhabit Orlando, according to information from the 2006 U.S. Census, while 1.3 million citizens call Rashid home.

The squadron's area is about the size of Washington, D.C., and home to about 200,000 people. That includes a mix of rural Sunni tribal areas, urban mixed areas and urban Shiia neighborhoods, Smith said. The latter is the only Shiia area on the east side of Rashid.

The squadron's area of operations is a microcosm of Iraq with a mix of cultures, Smith said.

The soldiers' primary mission upon arriving one year ago was securing the populace. That started with two steps: building the Iraqi Security Forces' capacities and capabilities and treating local citizens with dignity and respect. With that, the troops gained trust and confidence in the neighborhoods, Smith said.

When it came time to put the Iraqi forces in the lead, they, too, had the support of the residents.

"That got the people on our side," Smith said.

That made it easy to drive militia forces and terrorists out of the area, he said.

A historic security agreement with the Iraqi government was signed Jan. 31, changing the Coalition Forces' method of operations. Soldiers could no longer go out and detain or kill, Maj. Gen. Jeffery Hammond, 4th Infantry commander, said Feb. 11. They had to obtain warrants. The result was an even closer working relationship between the Americans and Iraqis, something to which Smith's squadron was accustomed.

The Iraqi Security Forces took over control of the Sons of Iraq – thousands of Iraqis who turned against the violence plaguing their neighborhoods. About 94,000 Sons stood up across Iraq following a 2006 grassroots movement, according to information from the Armed Forces Press Service, and in 2008 those volunteers partnered with Coalition Forces.

"That's great progress," Smith said of the Iraqis' increasing lead. "That's what we were looking for."

Contact Amanda Kim Stairrett at astair@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7547.