KHOWST PROVINCE, Afghanistan – In the midst of redeployment, Soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Task Force Duke, found time to celebrate Christmas Eve and Day by participating in worship services and enjoying a full spread at the Forward Operating Base Salerno dining facility.
Much of the BCT has already returned or is on the way back home to Fort Knox, Ky., after officially taking over the security mission in Afghanistan in January, 2011. This marks the end of the BCT’s second combat tour in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and third since the global war on terrorism began in 2001.
TF Duke is handing over coalition forces’ security responsibilities for Khowst and Paktya provinces in eastern Afghanistan to the 4th Airborne BCT, 25th Inf. Div., TF Spartan, based at Fort Richardson, Alaska.