SMA visits Rakkasans, explains deployment cycle

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy | Sgt. Maj. of the Army Kenneth O. Preston and Sgt. 1st Class Jason Dodge, Company A, 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, watch as Sgt. Francis Lagat, also of Co. A, 3rd STB, remotely controls a robot to interrogate a potential improvised explosive device, March 15, at Camp Striker.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

03.15.2008

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy 

3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs

By Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – The Army's top non-commissioned officer visited the Rakkasans, March 15.

The Sergeant Major of the Army, Command Sgt. Maj. Kenneth O. Preston, spent half a day with Soldiers from 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division at Camp Striker.

Upon arrival to Camp Striker, Preston ate lunch with a roomful of Soldiers from 3rd Infantry Division as well as from 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. He spoke to the group about deployments, promotions and transformation.

The number one concern for Soldiers is 15-month deployments, followed by a 12-month dwell time. To understand how the longer deployments came about, Preston said it is necessary to understand the Army's modularity and its current mission.

"In January 2004 we started using modular units ... so all like units in the Army look the same," Preston said. A signal unit in one place should look just like a signal unit in a different location and so on, he said, explaining the plan to grow the Army from 482,400 to 547,000 and that brigade combat teams measure the growth of the force.

There were 33 BCTs in 2004. The Army now stands at 38 BCTs, with plans to have 48 by 2012.

"An additional 65,000 Soldiers are needed to fill those BCTs," Preston said. "We are now on a glide path to get to 48 brigades by 2010 – two years early – through retention and recruitment."

"Why 15-months?" is a question posed by many. Preston said looking at the last five years makes it easier to understand. When the five-brigade surge was implemented, it put additional demands on the Army.

"Iraq was a 15-brigade mission – 13 from the Army and the two from the Marines ... Afghanistan is a two-brigade mission.

"The surge came from the Army and took us from 15 to 20 brigades," Preston said. With only 38 brigades on the books, that meant that more than 50 percent of the force would be deployed. "The leadership had to make a decision."

Preston referenced a unit that had redeployed, only to deploy again nine months later. The nine months of dwell time, he said, consisted of three months reintegration and leave and six months conducting ranges, improving proficiency of warrior tasks, training at one of the Army's training centers, then packing up and moving out for another year.

The decision was made that it was "better to stay with 12 months of dwell time and longer deployments," Preston said. "That's how we ended up there."

After lunch and a question-and-answer period, Preston visited the Rakkasan brigade headquarters and visited two 3rd BCT units. At 3rd Special Troops Battalion he watched a demonstration of an examination of an improvised explosive device by a robot. The 626th Brigade Support Battalion showed off its combat-capable fire truck and a mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle that has been modified to transport patients.

• Date Taken: 03.15.2008
• Date Posted: 03.19.2008 10:48
• Story ID: 17534
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ