By Tim Franklin
33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team
CAMP PHOENIX, Kabul, Afghanistan − The 33rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Illinois Army National Guard, will take over responsibility of the Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix from the 27th IBCT of New York in a transfer of authority ceremony, Dec. 19.
More than 3,000 Soldiers of the Urbana-based brigade have spent the past year training and preparing to take over this mission from the outgoing 27th IBCT.
As CJTF Phoenix VIII, they will spend the next year working with coalition and contractor partners, as well as service members from other United States military components to train and mentor Afghan security forces from the Afghan national army and Afghan national police throughout the country.