By Maj. Richard Hyde
1-25 Stryker Brigade Combat Team
KUWAIT - Soldiers with the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division are completing the final stages of their preparation to move into the country of Iraq.
Headquartered at Fort Wainwright, Alaska, the "Arctic Wolves" have been in Kuwait during the last several weeks preparing for the last stage of their recent deployment.
"The brigade deployed to Kuwait in order to complete what is known as RSOI, or Reception, Staging, and Onward Movement Integration," said Maj. Bill Ryan, executive officer, 1-25 SBCT and Fairbanks, Alaska native. "This process is necessary before we can move to our new home in Iraq."
RSOI is a comprehensive process that prepares all deploying combat brigades, as well as other deploying units, for many aspects of their upcoming duties while in Iraq, or Afghanistan, added Ryan.
Several of the key areas that Soldiers and units must focus on during RSOI, often a two to three-week period, are transportation, logistics, and training.
According to Capt. Matt Hall, operations officer with the brigade's headquarters element, all of the brigade's units have had to complete several blocks of mandatory training, such as counter improvised explosive device awareness, as well as small arms weapons ranges.
Additionally, Kuwait-based U.S. installations also offer a wide range of other pre-deployment-oriented training for units headed to Iraq, Afghanistan, or other countries in the region.
"Nearly all of the brigade's units have taken advantage of the training assets available here," said Hall, an Eagle, Wis., native. "Training has gone really well during our limited time [in Kuwait]."
"Considering everything else necessary [to complete], all units have made extremely efficient use of their time," added Hall.
Also critical to the pre-deployment timeline in Kuwait is the logistics and transportation effort.
The movement of people, vehicles, and equipment from Alaska to Kuwait, and then to Iraq has been an enormous endeavor, and one vital to the unit's upcoming mission in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The brigade's vehicles, including their state-of-the-art "backbone" vehicle, the Stryker, as well as thousands of pounds of their equipment, arrived recently on the USS Bob Hope, a U.S. Naval vessel that transported much of the unit's equipment from their recent training exercise in California.
With all of the moving pieces involved, most agree that perhaps the most integral ingredient for deployment success has been teamwork.
"Transportation of [our vehicles] into the country has been hectic, but smoothed out with everyone working together," said Spc. Audrey Arrindell, a logistics specialist in the brigade's headquarters and Enterprise, Ala. native.
The brigade is scheduled to spend the remaining several weeks continuing their preparations before their move into northern Iraq.
The Arctic Wolves are set to transfer authority and replace units with the 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment in the Diyala province later this month.
Subscribe
